What do you know about cognitive dissonance? Use the following directions to explore this matter. View your syllabus for the initial announcement. It is DUE on the last day of class---October 18, 2017!

The PAPER: 1- Goal: To present an example of your personal cognitive dissonance. 2- Purpose: for students to explore those aspects of their lives that are inconsistent, and to provide possible suggestions for developing consistency (in other words, to rid themselves of the inconsistency). 3- Possibilities include the following areas: politics, ethics, religion, crime and punishment, personal perspectives, etc. The papers should be a minimum of 5 paragraphs: You can use your CANVAS site to write the paper. THE PAPER MUST BE SUBMITTED VIA HARD-COPY BY THE END OF CLASS (12:00pm) ON October 21, 2017. LATE PAPERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED! Example: I have difficulty viewing close-minded individuals in a positive light. In other words, I tend to look at individuals (especially those who are ignorant and stupid (see my definitions) about matters that can easily be researched and/or proven. For example, I have difficulty engaging in conversations with and understanding individuals professing the belief that if a social ill is ignored/not mentioned it will "go away." My dissonance lies within the frustration and anxiety between my desire not to interact with such individuals and my need to engage them within the classroom. The notion that if negative behavior, social problems, and crimes can be ended by either ignoring or re-defining them is absolute stupidity! If we stop posting, discussing, or debating these issues, matters, and concerns, they will cease to be? And, if we continue to post, debate, and discuss them, we are prolonging their existence! Let us examine a specific issue. How long has "murder" been around? According to the Bible, it came onto the scene not long after the expulsion from Eden! One inference to be drawn from the -- let's ignore the topic -- conclusion would suggest that because there was no mass media at that time and because the majority of people lacked the ability to post, discuss, or report murder and other crimes, such behaviors (by now) should have disappeared from the face of the Earth! History indicates that humans have, since the earliest of times, created and maintained various methods of murder and war for a multitude of reasons---ranging from love, hate, religion, economics, politics, and "just because." Therefore, there is neither historical nor logical basis for even the most expansive imagination to make such an assumption! However, it is a core belief of too many American citizens. If what is being imagined is possible, let's try not discussing domestic abuse, rape, and child abuse. These crimes would, using this type of logic, cease to exist! In reality, a person would have to be a SPECIAL KIND OF STUPID to believe that discontinuing such postings or discussions would---somehow---help usher these matters out of existence! If this is a "fix-all" for the world's problems, we could use it to rid reality of terrorism, inequality, war, and other societal ills and problems, including ignorance and stupidity! Given my profession, I cannot avoid individuals with this perspective! As a college instructor, dedicating to instructing the range of individuals in my classroom, I have no options! It is necessary for me to develop a stronger resolve to maintain interactions with these individuals. After all, it is my professional responsibility to make the attempt to instruct them in historical, sociological, and logical information and inquiry. Therefore, I will (obviously) be required to de-emphasize their behavior, while heightening my sense of responsibility.