Cognitive dissonance is a psychological phenomenon that occurs when a person holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time. The psychologist Leon Festinger came up with the concept in 1957. Festinger believed that all people are motivated to avoid or resolve cognitive dissonance due to the discomfort it causes, and it can prompt people to adopt certain defense mechanisms when they have to confront it—namely, avoidance, delegitimizing, and limiting the impact. The last thing people seem to want to do is confront the conflicting ideas and change their beliefs. Sadly, scientists are not immune to this phenomenon. Today I am going to present some recent studies that are generating cognitive dissonance even though they do a better job of explaining phenomena related to cholesterol levels than the traditional theories.
Read MoreI was on a digital detox this week and therefore did not look at any research or explore new topics in health. I was incidentally celebrating my sixtieth birthday at the same time. During the week, I saw some old college friends, one of whom I had not seen since 1985. I was feeling a bit nostalgic, so I went on social media after my detox was over to look at pictures from the past. I found this one of me in a striped shirt from 1985 that my dad took by our pool. My wife always tells me that she thinks I look just as good as the younger me, so I got the crazy idea to try and strike the same pose and see how I really stack up to a younger man. We had a good laugh trying. She claims to like the silver fox with the fancy watch better! Unfortunately, many of the years in between the photos were spent with avoidable health problems. This post will cover what happened and how I was able to get healthy and strong again.
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