Richards Favorite Videos

Cat R. Waul has a delicious little mouse fall into his palm but knows he shouldn’t eat it, both displaying and explaining cognitive dissonance, which is a psychological term describing the uncomfortable tension that may result from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time, or from engaging in behavior that conflicts with one’s beliefs.

In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one’s beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where “cognition” is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these have examined how beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.

Tiger trains to become a dog so he can fight the Cactus Cat Gang. The “i’ve got it” moment excited me as Tiger hears his echo and gains the confidence and resolve to take his training seriously. I also love it for its overly serious take on the absurd (see the disappointed child line in Nightmare Before Christmas).