You only see what your eyes want to see...Madonna – from song Frozen.
Some of my friends support Modi all the way and some other see no virtue in any move that Modi makes. Some believe Kejriwal is the most honest person in the world and some believe exactly opposite of that. And they stick to that – against all odds, they are not even willing to consider new information if it is against their stand.
What is the thought process of a Bhakt.
Whats in your head... in your head... Zombie Zombie Zombie.. what's in your head ( Love that Cranberries song... good lyrics)
Both Modi and Kejriwal had a very high decibel personality based campaign and had polarized the opinion about them. The opposition was shallow, and also had skeletons in their cupboards – and accordingly found it easy to attack personality rather than issues.
The trouble with personality based elections is that it results in binary supporters - either you trust/like someone or you don’t. There is no middle ground in a personality led election campaign.
But then the elections that brought these individuals to power are over. New information is available for both these politicians in terms of how they have behaved over last year or two.
Also why are their supporters/ detractors wearing their support/criticism on their sleeve all the time.
Why are these supporters using facebook / whatsapp to express their opinion all the time – and at times putting their personal / professional relationships at stake? Why are they so charged up and trying to convince others?
This I believe is result of cognitive dissonance.
(Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs.)
In order to minimize the discomfort, they try to deny any and every information that conflicts with their existing beliefs. They go out of their way- and start selling their own ideology / try to convert others. This reduces their dissonance.
People who believed Modi is evil / communal / feku ...are at a loss when they see something good attempted by him. A Modi hater will go out of way and use his/her personal reputation / relationships / friendships at stake - to prove Modi’s good activities are actually very bad. Doing this minimizes their dissonance. Infact if Modi was not doing good work, his detractors might have been less vocal about their opinions.
People who had a belief that Kejriwal is the most educated & honest person, find it very difficult to find fault with his policies / lack of actions now.
What can be done - well, there are tried and tested approaches to reduce cognitive dissonance- well that is a topic for a larger blog post....and frankly not my area of expertise.
In US, Trump also had a very similar personality focused high decibel campaign, and globally almost EVERYONE has a stand on Trump. If Trump starts doing something logical, he will face a lot of backlash / every good step will also be criticized.
Some of my friends support Modi all the way and some other see no virtue in any move that Modi makes. Some believe Kejriwal is the most honest person in the world and some believe exactly opposite of that. And they stick to that – against all odds, they are not even willing to consider new information if it is against their stand.
What is the thought process of a Bhakt.
Whats in your head... in your head... Zombie Zombie Zombie.. what's in your head ( Love that Cranberries song... good lyrics)
Both Modi and Kejriwal had a very high decibel personality based campaign and had polarized the opinion about them. The opposition was shallow, and also had skeletons in their cupboards – and accordingly found it easy to attack personality rather than issues.
The trouble with personality based elections is that it results in binary supporters - either you trust/like someone or you don’t. There is no middle ground in a personality led election campaign.
But then the elections that brought these individuals to power are over. New information is available for both these politicians in terms of how they have behaved over last year or two.
Also why are their supporters/ detractors wearing their support/criticism on their sleeve all the time.
Why are these supporters using facebook / whatsapp to express their opinion all the time – and at times putting their personal / professional relationships at stake? Why are they so charged up and trying to convince others?
This I believe is result of cognitive dissonance.
(Cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs.)
In order to minimize the discomfort, they try to deny any and every information that conflicts with their existing beliefs. They go out of their way- and start selling their own ideology / try to convert others. This reduces their dissonance.
People who believed Modi is evil / communal / feku ...are at a loss when they see something good attempted by him. A Modi hater will go out of way and use his/her personal reputation / relationships / friendships at stake - to prove Modi’s good activities are actually very bad. Doing this minimizes their dissonance. Infact if Modi was not doing good work, his detractors might have been less vocal about their opinions.
People who had a belief that Kejriwal is the most educated & honest person, find it very difficult to find fault with his policies / lack of actions now.
What can be done - well, there are tried and tested approaches to reduce cognitive dissonance- well that is a topic for a larger blog post....and frankly not my area of expertise.
In US, Trump also had a very similar personality focused high decibel campaign, and globally almost EVERYONE has a stand on Trump. If Trump starts doing something logical, he will face a lot of backlash / every good step will also be criticized.
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