BS 175 Carol Tavris explains Cognitive Dissonance
Brain Science with Ginger Campbell, MD: Neuroscience for Everyone
Ginger Campbell, MD
4.8 • 896 Ratings
🗓️ 28 August 2020
⏱️ 63 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This extremely timely episode of Brain Science features an interview with Dr. Carol Tavris, co-author of the newly released third edition of Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts. Cognitive Dissonance was actually discovered back in 1956 and it is one of the most well-replicated phenomena in experimental psychology. It also impacts many aspects of our lives, including politics, which is why I am grateful to have Dr. Tavris back on the podcast to help us explore this fascinating, but also disturbing topic.
Links and References:
- Mistakes Were Made (but Not by Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson--- add aerio link
- Books and Ideas 43 with Carol Tavris
- Find this under episode extras in the mobile app
- Please visit http://brainsciencepodcast.com for additional references and episode transcripts.
Please Visit Our Sponsors:
Announcements:
- Brain Science comes out on 4th Friday each month.
- Support Brain Science by buying Are You Sure? The Unconscious Origins of Certainty by Virginia "Ginger" Campbell, MD. Click here to buy an autographed copy.
- Learn more ways to support Brain Science at http://brainsciencepodcast.com/donations
- Sign up for the free Brain Science Newsletter to get show notes automatically every month. You can also text brainscience to 55444 to sign up.
- Check out the free Brain Science Mobile app for iOS, Android, and Windows. (It's a great way to get both new episodes and premium content.)
- Send email to brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com or post voice feedback at http://speakpipe.com/docartemis.
Connect on Social Media:
- Twitter: @docartemis
- Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/brainsciencepodcast
Contact Dr. Campbell:
- Email: brainsciencepodcast@gmail.com
- Voicemail: http://speakpipe.com/docartemis
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | So in a way it's why our greatest dangers are not just from foolish people who do foolish things or evil people who do evil things, but from good people who persist in doing bad foolish wrong things to preserve |
| 0:18.0 | their belief that they are good kind and competent. See that's the non-obvious message of understanding how |
| 0:26.4 | cognitive dissonance works. |
| 0:29.7 | Welcome to brain science, the podcast where we explore how recent discoveries in |
| 0:36.8 | neuroscience are helping unravel the mystery of how our brain makes us human. |
| 0:42.3 | I'm your host Dr. Ginger Campbell and this is |
| 0:45.2 | episode 175. Before we start I want to remind you that you can find |
| 0:51.3 | complete show notes, transcripts, and additional episodes of brain science on my website at brain science podcast.com. |
| 1:00.0 | And if you'd like to receive episode show notes automatically each month, just sign up for the free |
| 1:06.2 | newsletter on the website or by texting, brain science, all one word, to 5544. |
| 1:15.8 | That's brain science to 55444. |
| 1:21.2 | You can send me email at brain science podcast at gmail dot com |
| 1:25.7 | post voice comments at speakpipe dot com forward slash doc Artemis and also post to the Brain Science Podcast fan page on Facebook. |
| 1:38.0 | All your feedback is greatly appreciated. |
| 1:41.2 | Today we will be talking with Dr Carol Tavris about cognitive dissonance. |
| 1:47.0 | You may have heard the phrase used recently by the mainstream media, but our goal today is to get a clear understanding of the scientific |
| 1:56.3 | principle and how it might shed some light on recent events. |
| 2:02.1 | We'll be talking about the third edition of the book, Mistakes were made, but not by me, |
| 2:08.8 | why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful acts by Carol Tavris and her co-author |
| 2:16.4 | Elliot Aronson. I guess I should issue a trigger warning because I realize |
| 2:22.2 | that any mention of Donald Trump is |
| 2:25.1 | potentially polarizing. But one reason I wanted to talk to Carol again this month |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ginger Campbell, MD, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ginger Campbell, MD and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.