Does Cognitive Dissonance Explain Mask Wearing, Returning to School in the Fall, Pro Wrestling, and Michigan Football?

The Best Paragraph I've Read:

"Members of Heaven’s Gate, a religious cult, believed that as the Hale-Bopp comet passed by Earth in 1997, a spaceship would be traveling in its wake—ready to take true believers aboard. Several members of the group bought an expensive, high-powered telescope so that they might get a clearer view of the comet. They quickly brought it back and asked for a refund. When the manager asked why, they complained that the telescope was defective, that it didn’t show the spaceship following the comet. A short time later, believing that they would be rescued once they had shed their “earthly containers” (their bodies), all 39 members killed themselves.

Heaven’s Gate followers had a tragically misguided conviction, but it is an example, albeit extreme, of cognitive dissonance, the motivational mechanism that underlies the reluctance to admit mistakes or accept scientific findings—even when those findings can save our lives. This dynamic is playing out during the pandemic among the many people who refuse to wear masks or practice social distancing. Human beings are deeply unwilling to change their minds. And when the facts clash with their preexisting convictions, some people would sooner jeopardize their health and everyone else’s than accept new information or admit to being wrong."

This paragraph comes from an article in The Atlantic by Elliot Aronson and Carol Tavris. The article is titled: "The Role of Cognitive Dissonance in the Pandemic:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/07/role-cognitive-dissonance-pandemic/614074/

Zac and Don discuss the idea of cognitive dissonance and it role during the Covid-19 pandemic and in general American life. They discuss how cognitive dissonance impacts mask wearing, American history, pro wrestling, Michigan football, and America's attempt at returning to school this fall.

Another Best Paragraph I've Read:

"As school districts across the United States consider whether and how to restart in-person classes, their challenge is complicated by a pair of fundamental uncertainties: No nation has tried to send children back to school with the virus raging at levels like America’s, and the scientific research about transmission in classrooms is limited.

The World Health Organization has now concluded that the virus is airborne in crowded, indoor spaces with poor ventilation, a description that fits many American schools. But there is enormous pressure to bring students back — from parents, from pediatricians and child development specialists, and from President Trump.

“I’m just going to say it: It feels like we’re playing Russian roulette with our kids and our staff,” said Robin Cogan, a nurse at the Yorkship School in Camden, N.J., who serves on the state’s committee on reopening schools."

This paragraph comes from the New York Times in an article titled: "How to Reopen Schools: What Science and Other Countries Teach Us." The authors are: Pam Belluck, Apoorva Mandavilli, and Benedict Carey.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/11/health/coronavirus-schools-reopen.html

Zac and Don finish the podcast by talking about schools attempting to open this fall and whether this is an example of cognitive dissonance.