Jersey Girl wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:31 am
Res Ipsa wrote: ↑Mon Jan 11, 2021 4:16 am
You haven’t lost your mind. Exposure to people who have is disorienting. Confirmation bias is real and it is powerful. And once you get people who effectively dismiss any evidence that causes them discomfort as “fake news,” what you are seeing is what happens.
This is someone I KNOW. And I'm over here like I can't BELIEVE what I just read! There is VIDEO and STILL SHOTS of this stuff. There are reports all over the whole Internet from folks of all stripes. How in the HELL do you shut off this stuff like it's not even there???
I have to wonder what their explanation would be for the many GOP members who came out against this illegal activity? What? They are sell outs? Colin Powell is a sell out? George Bush is a sell out? What a sick and twisted little world they live in like the world isn't sick and twisted enough right now. But to deny the FACTS and REALITY of the EVIDENCE?
It's ALL RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF YOUR FACE!
I can't see this person again. I just cannot.
It’s hard to see this happen in people we know. What you are seeing is what brains do. They take in a firehouse of stimulus and turn it into a story. And once it figures out a story, it sticks with it. I don’t think we could survive if the story our brains tell us changed with every new piece of information. So, you know how this goes. The brain emphasizes information that reinforces the story and minimizes or finds ways to reject information that contradicts the story. And it seem to me that the brain is particularly stubborn about the parts of the story that are an important part of the identity our brains construct.
Here’s my guess. The riot represents a severe threat to the core of her story. The result is cognitive dissonance. He or she is probably posting this stuff to try and reduce the CD. Her brain is struggling in its efforts to maintain the story. And that manifests as lashing out or furious posting. The only way to reduce the discomfort, which is probably intolerable, is to find a way to reject the evidence or change a part of a story that is part of core identity.
It’s just like what former Mormons describe as shelf breaking, and it can be traumatic as hell. And because the rational part of our brains is relatively new and very fragile, the reasoning skills that you can apply may simply be overwhelmed and unavailable.
I’ve been in something like that state, and it was hell for me. I wish I knew what to say to a person in that state that would be helpful. All I can suggest is that you disconnect from him or her, at least for a bit, as it sounds like this is causing you significant distress.