I just ran into a very interesting article about the neuroscience of cognitive dissonance I think is worth sharing with the group. I don't want to give any spoilers for the content since it's a short read with fantastic information that is enormously applicable to everyone here. That said, for the sake of fair warning the study was done in a political context with self-described partisans from both the US Democrat and Republican parties, although the article is not political and does not mention any difference between the two sides. Politics is simply an easy way to find people who willingly self-identify as holding strong positions and getting funding for research, but the neuroscience is obviously not limited to politics since brains are brains regardless of what context they're in.

https://www.sightline.org/2008/03/13/drewwestenresearch/

I look forward to seeing what you think about this.

6874284
Care to explain what this has to do with MLP?

6874383
I assume it's something to do with how the show sucks now but most of the fandom is so invested in it that they'll jump through as many mental hoops as they need to to rationalize why it doesn't suck?

6874383
More like it is the biggest defining factor of why the show still has diehard fans despite its failings. I’ve seen cognitive dissonance in effect in my life outside the show and it’s very depressing to see for anyone strong enough to accept reality. If I can tell you anything, the likeliest driving force behind it is emotional attachment, denial, and inability/unwillingness to accept unpleasant realities.

When you have to deal with it in a very personal way like I do, it makes you feel like a literal version of the only sane man.

6874508
Well, I think part of the reason is that the show still has a lot of good points. If you give me a pair of scissors, so that I could snip out the bad episodes, and the bad parts of episodes: I think I could really improve the show's quality.

But yes, cognitive dissonance is a real problem! It's a form of insanity. One that causes a lot of problems, beyond just TV shows.

6874455
Yes, but what makes it more interesting is what neuroscientists found when they studied what the brain actually does during that process. They discovered some very interesting things about what does and does not happen during the process that sheds a lot of light on the behavior we see.

6874705
Yes. Interesting, and disturbing! It sounds like indoctrination.

6874734
Exactly why I thought it was worth sharing. It sheds a lot of light on what's going on inside the brain and makes it clear how powerful this effect really is.

Also, on the subject of indoctrination, I'm not an expert and I don't know of any studies on the subject, but I'd be shocked if this same behavior wasn't at the heart of what makes it work.

6874841
You think that might have something to do with Starlight’s popularity?

6874882
That seems like a reasonable hypothesis. It's easy to see how that emotional reaction to rational criticism could result in people latching onto her. It takes a lot of rationality and emotional control to present a position you don't support (e.g. playing devil's advocate) which is very obviously absent in this reaction, so it would honestly be surprising if someone lashing out against criticism of the show via Starlight didn't also latch onto her in order to justify their irrational attachment to the show.