Cognitive dissonance

Audiophile Bill

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Read quite a bit of Popper in University...I like philosophy of science almost more than Science itself :cool:

It always came up when trying to get one’s head around testing against a null hypothesis etc.
 
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bonzo75

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Yes, that is certainly a well known bias. Someone buys an expensive piece of gear and then starts posting all over the place with how great it is. It may be great. But readers have to be cautious as it is very difficult for someone to say "Hey look at me. I just spent $30k on this piece of crap amplifier. I am totally stupid. Anyone want to buy it from me?"

At least that means he is not convincing himself it sounds good, he is trying to keep up the selling price. These people have to decide if they want to be in the community long term, their reputation will be affected for short term gain.

I think this dissonance doesn't address that dishonesty, but addresses when he convinces himself look, I have got this far and bought this gear, this has to be good, saying otherwise means I am not smart and have crappy ears
 

the sound of Tao

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I feel our dissonance is mostly a consequence of the split between feeling and thinking. We are essentially incoherent. We lack transparency and there is little that is left that is natural about us. If we were a stereo we’d upgrade.
 

bonzo75

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I feel our dissonance is mostly a consequence of the split between feeling and thinking. We are essentially incoherent. We lack transparency and there is little that is left that is natural about us. If we were a stereo we’d upgrade.

Ideally you would change direction rather than upgrade. Or go mono
 

spiritofmusic

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I wonder if our purchasing and upgrading choices really reflect on us as people. I know individuals who buy and sell houses every 3-4 yrs, always on the move. They never settle, never seem happy. Others buy a property that seems to reflect their personality, and then spend a fortune doing the place up/improving it.
Relationships? Don't get me started...
 

bonzo75

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I wonder if our purchasing and upgrading choices really reflect on us as people. I know individuals who buy and sell houses every 3-4 yrs, always on the move. They never settle, never seem happy. Others buy a property that seems to reflect their personality, and then spend a fortune doing the place up/improving it.
Relationships? Don't get me started...

Marc, what you have with your Zu is not what we call relationship
 

bonzo75

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I think upgrade and change is fine. That's the hobby. Problem is communicating why we do what we do. To ourselves before others
 

spiritofmusic

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Marc, what you have with your Zu is not what we call relationship
You can be pretty dense when you choose to be. My sentence was meant to be self deprecating.
 

morricab

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Ideally you would change direction rather than upgrade. Or go mono
I am already mono...if I clone myself then I can upgrade to stereo :cool:
 
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Atmasphere

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Sure, your investment in something alters your perception of it. The obvious ones in a luxury market are price and exclusivity. While folks may say they understand that price doesn't correlate to quality all of the time, it seems impossible not to be impressed with a high MSRP and compelled by the possibility of a discount. This also gets ingrained in culture. I'll fully admit, even though my own business relies on flat pricing and no discounts, I often get caught up emotionally in pricing, and am not sure it's even possible to fully divorce one's self from it. To complicate matters, often it really IS the case that a discount means a good deal, differentiating from when this is the case vs an item with an inflated msrp that isn't a good value is emotionally difficult, and we experience these emotions regardless if they are welcome or not, and it is a rare individual that isn't swayed by emotion at all. Exclusivity seems to work in a similar manner.

With beliefs, I think often folks identify or conflate their beliefs with who they are as a person, so this makes it difficult to have any empathy for different beliefs. But it's a trap, you are NOT your beliefs! You do NOT have to hold strong opinions or even have opinions on everything, and if you change your beliefs based on new evidence or thinking, it does not mean you are personally deficient. It means you are open to learning and evolving, which can lead to improvements in one's life. I think we need to be much more cautious and discerning about what beliefs we adapt, and be ready to change them depending on new information and experience. I think it's fine to abstain from forming opinions on many things, and it's ok to say "I don't know". Nobody can be an expert on everything, yet we tend to form strong opinions on everything regardless, often based on the tiniest bits of knowledge, flawed logic, or simply from adapting others' opinions as our own without any thought or analysis.

As humans we tend to make up stories about life. Because they are made up quite often the stories are false, even though we are living our lives as if they are real. I find what is important is to be able to drop my story as soon as I am able to recognize that its false. This minimizes suffering when life doesn't agree with my story...

The selection process para addresses exactly that - if you have struggled through a few years to get your upgrade by saving up, moving stuff around, getting deals, the end result will feel exclusive. If it comes easily, like a low priced efficient speaker with low priced SET that sounds great without much set up struggle, it will feel boring.

There is something called the Veblen Effect; the basic idea being that the higher priced it is, the more expectation people have that is quality and therefore desirable.
 

bonzo75

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There is something called the Veblen Effect; the basic idea being that the higher priced it is, the more expectation people have that is quality and therefore desirable.

Yes veblen goods
 

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