In the dusty outskirts of Seminole, Texas - just past the cotton fields and under the relentless spring sun - Peter Hildebrand stands outside a gas station, his eyes rimmed red and voice cracking.
There’s no cognitive dissonance here, and far too many people misuse the term. Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of discomfort a person feels from holding beliefs that contradict each other or from behaving contrary to their beliefs.
This is just plain old stupidity. These assholes believed vaccines are a hoax, their daughter died as a result, and they still believe vaccines are a hoax. They behaved exactly as one would expect antivaxxers to behave.
When cognitive dissonance turns deadly.
There’s no cognitive dissonance here, and far too many people misuse the term. Cognitive dissonance is a feeling of discomfort a person feels from holding beliefs that contradict each other or from behaving contrary to their beliefs.
This is just plain old stupidity. These assholes believed vaccines are a hoax, their daughter died as a result, and they still believe vaccines are a hoax. They behaved exactly as one would expect antivaxxers to behave.
Willful ignorance?