Cognitive Dissonance and the Principles of Non Violence.

My second post in a still-young blog and I am already mentioning cognitive dissonance again. But it's such a fascinating concept to me because I think it shapes so much of human behavior. Two recent events have caused me to look at it in a different light and they both deal with non violence. First, the Elms College commencement speaker will be Dr. John Paul Lederach, professor of international peacebuilding at Notre Dame. He developed a theory known as conflict transformation to find peaceful solutions in conflicted areas such as Northern Ireland, Nepal, and Colombia. I look forward to reading more about this theory. Second, I've been reading Viktor Frenkl's book Man's Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy.

Frenkl's book reflects on his time as a concentration camp prisoner. It made me think about what causes people to treat others so horribly. When it comes to Islamic terrorism, the case is often made that they are simply "uneducated" and that is why they go to such extremes in committing their hateful acts. When information was leaked that the 911 pilots were college graduates, this theory lost a lot of steam. This is where I propose that, once again, cognitive dissonance plays a major role in human behavior. The terrorists are convinced that western influence poses a major threat to their way of life. Just like any creature, when humans feel threatened they will go to extremes to defend themselves and their culture. To justify blowing themselves up, as well as taking the lives of innocent Muslim women and children, they have to really hate Americans -- and they do.

So what caused the Auschwitz prison guards to treat the Jews so inhumanely? I believe there are two natural reactions that the prisoners took that allowed for the guards to continue their brutish behavior. One is hostility. It makes it easier to beat and send a prisoner to his death if they are openly violent and insulting. It justifies the behavior, at least in the Nazi's mind. This person is mean to me so it's okay to hit them. The other is inhumanity. Frenkl describes the second phase that all prisoners seem to succumb to that made them feel like nothing more than moving masses of flesh clinging to a thin skeletal frame. They became devoid of hope and happiness, and their expressions revealed this black hole of emotion. This only reinforced to the Nazis that it was okay to treat them the way they did because they didn't even seem to be real people.

So back to Dr. Lederach. In reading about him I was reminded about one of the most profound courses I took in college, World Views taught by Dr. Barry Gan. As a pacifist, Gan used the class to talk about global non-violent social movements. Gandhi believed that there was a human spirit that could be reached in everyone and that spirit did not want to harm other humans. Gan used to say "It's not 'do what I say or I'm going to hurt you.' It's 'do what I say or I'm going to make you hurt me.'" But this human spirit can be guarded by cognitive dissonance. If a prisoner displays hostility or lifelessness, a person can rationalize their inhumane treatment of said prisoner. The prisoner's best bet to reach that human spirit was to show natural loving kindness in the face of hatred, holding a mirror to its ugly mug (World Views did briefly discuss several isolated instances of non-violent movements effectively working on Nazi prison guards who then allowed them to escape).

Even though we are all prone to cognitive dissonance, recognizing it can help dissolve its nasty effects. And maybe the principles of nonviolence are they key to cutting through dissonance and finding the human soul. The true self is no self.

Can the next generation of business leaders change the world?

One of my assignments at my new job is to help develop the language of our new M.B.A. program set to launch this fall. Since there are several M.B.A. programs in the college-rich pioneer valley of western Massachusetts, our distinguishing factor is our Catholic identity and commitment to social justice.

Therefore, one of our models is the famously Catholic Notre Dame and its M.B.A. program. In addition to being considered one of the top graduate business programs in the country, it uses language in its course descriptions that reflects its religious values. Phrases like "ethical issues" "societal concerns" and  "global impact" are disseminated throughout the text.

Browsing through Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business web site, I became convinced that they were committed to cultivating ethical-minded businesss students who would go out and change the world. Imagine a society of business leaders who thought about the well being and safety of their clients and the impact of each decision they made. I think about local coffee-house owners that only buy fair-trade beans. I think of massive philanthropists like Newman's Own or the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Other times, I'm not so optimistic. Such an idealistic world requires all business owners to behave in the same manner; including ethical concerns into their cost-benefit analyses. All it takes is one business to cut corners and produce a smaller retail price that pushes the more ethical entrepreneurs out on the streets. Then, the fair-trade buyers of the world with a savvy marketing team are really the only ones that survive.

I think of a successful insurance business. What makes them successful? Is it creating low competitive rates? Is it providing broad coverage? No, these things only get people in the door. What leads to long-term success is limiting risk. The insurance salesman that can spot a potential client and determine "you are likely to have an accident that is going to be an expensive claim," and deny that person coverage, is going to be a succesful salesman.

Is that morally rightous? No. Does it lower the risk pool and the rates for all the other clients? Of course. The insurance salesman that takes on that client for eithical reasons is going to run out of business. How can they survive in this economy?

And yet the Mendoza's undergraduate program is still rated number one in the country. Either the country's brightest minds are attracted to the humane aspects of its program or the creaters of the program itself feel their moral values are of great importance and necessary in today's world.

I wonder if the next generation of business leaders will carry this commitment to the dignity of all human persons with them as they shape our country. I wonder if this buisness model can be a successful one. More importantly, I wonder if the patrons of our country will support it.

I believe that wealth is a finite source. To bring others out of poverty is going to cost us and I'm not sure how much we are willing to give up.