Truth vs. Cognitive Dissonance

Why you’re stuck in a prison of lies, and how to set yourself free.

They say the Truth shall set you free. This begs the question: Free from whom or what? Are you in prison? Why? Who arrested you, prosecuted you, sentenced you, and currently occupies the warden’s office?

Journey with me in this Substack (and in the upcoming book) as we explore how and why Cognitive Dissonance, the answer to all those questions, traps you in a prison of lies. Whether it’s disinformation or misinformation, these falsehoods, half-truths, and bold-faced lies foil our best efforts to know what’s truly going on.

Sometimes we politely accept them, sometimes we fight them, and hopefully we don’t believe too many of them.

Sadly, though, we do believe far too many of them. On this journey, I’ll give you some tools to dial up your dissonance detector.

We’ll also examine eight areas of life where many people experience more dissonance than Truth.

Truth-telling Takes Courage

Speaking the Truth requires courage and a deep sense of integrity.

Why? Speaking the Truth can make you very unpopular. Plato said, “No one is more hated than he who speaks the truth.”

Speaking the Truth can get you killed. If he hadn’t been killed in 1968, you could’ve asked Robert F. Kennedy Sr., who said, “Fear not the path of Truth for the lack of People walking on it.” He said that before Sirhan Sirhan (or maybe the CIA) shot him in the head for speaking the Truth.

In embracing the lessons in this Substack, you’ve embarked on a journey that requires courage.

Not convinced? Check out the history of every culture and religion, and you’ll find stories of people who spoke up and spoke out, then died a horrific death. The Catholic Church refers to these individuals as saints and Martyrs.

Eleven of Jesus’s twelve disciples died horribly, including Bartholomew, who converted the King of Armenia to Christianity (what he believed to be Truth). Then local leaders who didn’t believe that Truth skinned him alive and beheaded him.

Christians believe Jesus spoke the Truth before unbelievers nailed him to a cross.

For a classic tale of American heroics and truth-telling, read the story of helicopter pilot Hugh Thompson. He spoke the Truth about watching three platoons of US soldiers massacre 500 Vietnamese women, children, and old men. The My Lai Massacre made headlines in March of 1968. (Ironically, My Lai is pronounced “Me Lie.”)

The story was so compelling that 50 years after the event, composer Jonathan Berger felt inspired to write an opera about it. NPR reported, “Thompson tried to stop the massacre. He landed his helicopter repeatedly to help Vietnamese civilians. At one point, he flew it down between fleeing villagers and advancing American soldiers and ordered his crew to shoot the Americans if they kept slaughtering innocent people.”

“Once he got back to base, Thompson reported the massacre, but the Army tried to cover it up. His fellow soldiers shunned him and accused him of being on the wrong side. Thompson received death threats. After Thompson testified about My Lai in 1969, a member of Congress threatened to have him court-martialed.”¹

As a result of what he experienced, Thompson lived the rest of his life with “post-traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, divorce, and severe nightmare disorder.”²

Harriet Scott Chessman wrote the opera text. “His character just shines. He was extraordinary,” she said. “When you think about Thompson landing his helicopter over and over to protect people who could not protect themselves, it raises a moral question as valid now as it was in 1968.”

"Do we hover?" she asks. "Or do we dive down?"

In this Substack, fellow travelers, we will dive down.

Truth Builds Character

As you move with courage, acting from a strong moral center, your integrity, authenticity, and resilience sharpen and develop, much like muscles strengthened through exercise and practice. The core of your being gets stronger.

If you believe you have strong moral character and integrity, practice this one thing. Always tell the truth. As don Miguel Ruiz advised in his book The Four Agreements, “Be impeccable with your word.” If you tell no lies, you develop a reputation for honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability.

Telling the truth is simple, although it can be challenging and even dangerous at times. However, the more complex and valuable skill is distilling the truth from the sea of lies we all swim in. Speaking the truth helps build integrity, while knowing the truth fosters a solid character marked by impeccable integrity, transparent authenticity, and unflappable resilience.

Whenever we must choose between an easy lie and a hard truth, an opportunity to practice opens. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spoke and wrote harshly about Stalin and the Soviet Gulags (labor camps). They responded by imprisoning and eventually exiling him. While imprisoned, he continued to write and speak his truth. He said, “The simple step of a courageous individual is not to take part in the lie.”

I do not promise it’ll be easy, nor that you’ll be more popular. Sometimes, we pay a heavy price for telling the truth—just ask Hugh Thompson.

Belief Systems: the Original BS

In the Navy, I often heard, “Opinions are like assholes. Everybody has one, and they all stink.” The real trouble starts when opinions become beliefs; then, in our minds, the beliefs become Truths

We convince ourselves that only “our” Truth is correct; therefore, other conflicting Truths must be “untrue.”

Notice that our Truths, especially our core beliefs about the nature of reality, usually have little to do with facts. They are not objective at all. We create — or choose — our beliefs based on our desires for what we want to be true. We think we depend on critical thinking to discover what’s true, but mostly, we make it up. Then we find “facts” that support our belief. That’s why belief systems are BS.

Whether we believe in a benevolent Government or Government conspiracy theories, we want to be right. Often, we trick ourselves into believing something because we desire that nearly orgasmic rush we expect when our belief is “proven” true.

This puts us on a collision course with Truth, as we accept one set of facts and reject another. Nineteenth-century Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, considered the first existentialist philosopher, said, “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what is not true; the other is to refuse to accept what is true. “ Too many of us today do both.

Knowing only part of a Truth, but thinking it’s the whole Truth, creates different problems. Many of us, like the proverbial group of blind men who come upon an elephant, only accept what’s in front of us. Thus, the man holding the trunk cannot accept the obvious fiction of the description given by the man holding the tail, the one feeling a huge leg, or another touching the wall of the midsection.

Truths are not facts but are supported by them. Each blind man knows a fact, and describes what he touches, but doesn’t know the Truth, that they surround an elephant. Each adamantly refuses to accept the descriptions of the others. Each knows an actual fact but doesn’t realize that each of the others does as well. We naturally tend to think that if we know an actual fact, everyone with a differing fact must be wrong. Reality, thankfully, is not so short-sighted.

We ultimately choose all our truths. Therefore, we can always choose a better, new one.

The Truth About Truth

The American economist, historian, and philosopher Thomas Sowell said, “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.” This choice describes the birth of Dissonance.

Before speaking a Truth, ask yourself: “Who am I helping?” If you answer “me,” you might be dishing out dissonance.

Truth vibrates at a higher frequency and emits a sense of certainty. It pulls you to it, although it feels like the rising of a balloon, being pulled up by the sun’s heat. You can feel Truth in your bones, with a solidity that deception and falsehoods lack.

When someone lies to you, it leaves you uneasy on some level of your consciousness. Truth gives you a feeling of confidence and certainty, a sense of ease and security. When you grasp a profound truth, you will often give a big sigh or a yawn.

As we break down the rigid vision of our skeptical mind and allow new Truths to percolate in our consciousness, a vital aspect of Truth reveals itself. When fully understood, Truth builds compassion, acceptance, and serenity. When taught to society, it becomes a weapon of peace. (Perhaps a tool of peace is a better term.)

The Healing Power of Truth

No matter how uncomfortable we feel when we learn a brutal Truth, it ultimately results in a more functional life. Like the lancing pain of iodine on a wound, discovering uncomfortable Truths may initially sting, but it gradually cultivates real personal healing and spiritual growth.

Learning what you don’t know, especially the things you desperately want to know or that are making your life more difficult, raises awareness, leads to deeper understanding, and broadens one’s perspective.

The good news? Not all Truths are uncomfortable. You’ll find yourself drawn lovingly to some of these. You’ll also notice that your life will improve once you speak and act congruently with them and integrate them into your daily habits. No promises, but your life might become fuller, richer, more satisfying, and more productive.

First, you’ll spend far less time railing against things you cannot change. More importantly, you’ll put the powers of the Universe in your hands as tools to shape your life.

Notice I didn’t say easier. It will probably get more difficult. As you become more productive, people will naturally look to you for help with their problems. This may pile more responsibility on your already overburdened shoulders. Get used to it. As the military grunts like to say, “Embrace the suck.” Facing and embracing discomfort will get you through it more effectively than resisting it.

The bad news? We tend not to learn these Truths easily. We often wait until a crisis forces a decision that reveals one of these Truths.

How and why to choose a new Truth

Galileo, who went to jail for speaking the Truth, said, “All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” He proved that the Earth revolves around the Sun, not the other way around. Although most humans at the time believed this, the Church didn’t, and they were not amused.

The ability to choose another, better Truth needs only two things. First, accept that not everything you believe is true. Some of it isn’t. Second, a willingness to try on another Truth like a new coat. Try it on. If it fits, keep it. If not, set it aside. No harm. No foul.

Gradually, as you try on new Truths that align with universal Truths, you’ll become more resilient as you develop a greater sense of integrity and authenticity. You’ll become happier with your character and have more courage to speak your Truth.

The Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner commented on what the world would look like if more people acted this way. He said, “Never be afraid to raise your voice for honesty and truth and compassion against injustice and lying and greed. If people all over the world would do this, it would change the earth.”

How I picked these Truths

This Substack challenges the false beliefs and half-truths that prevent us from living our lives to the fullest. Both individuals and our species need regular challenges to our beliefs to encourage us to choose Better Truths.

I chose Truths fundamental to the human condition. We’ll dive into eight vital areas of life where these Truths remain largely unknown or, if known, ignored.

An unlimited number of profound Truths exist. Therefore, I sought truths supported by solid scientific data, particularly the most recent findings.

I also chose Truths I have directly experienced. I don’t take things on faith; I assume you don’t either.

Society has many erroneous thoughts about the nature of reality. That’s the suck this Substack aims to embrace.

1. https://www.npr.org/2018/03/17/593992434/50-years-after-the-my-lai-massacre-an-opera-confronts-the-past

2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Thompson_Jr.