Fear of flying?

Dixon wrote that “ignorance tends to evoke pontification in those who wish to conceal their lack of knowledge, or for whom ignorance of the facts means that they feel free to express strongly held beliefs of a contrary nature.”

Are these the reasons that Gillard, despite her ignorance, is happy to voice such strong opinions?

ASYLUM SEEKERS

Gillard put forward an idea of a creating a processing center for asylum seekers (who are trying to get to Australia in small boats) in East Timor or some other place in the region – only to have it very clearly rejected by East Timor and other countries. But, she continued to pursue the issue for an inordinate amount of time.

But why?

Dixon wrote about “Rokeach’s “The Open and Closed Mind” which centered on an individual’s capacity to absorb fresh information. … At one extreme are ‘open’ minds, ready and willing to entertain new facts, even if these are incompatible with their previously held attitudes; at the other extreme are ‘closed’ minds, which … resolutely resist taking in anything that conflicts with their preconceptions and treasured beliefs. Not very surprisingly, the possession of a ‘closed’ mind turned out to be yet another facet of the authoritarian personality.”

Or, to look at it another way, Gillard seems to have “cognitive dissonance” on this issue.  Dixon wrote: “This uncomfortable mental state arises when a person possesses knowledge or beliefs which conflict with a decision he has made. … Once the decision has been made and the person is committed to a given course of action, the psychological situation changes decisively. There is less emphasis on objectivity and there is more partiality and bias in the way in which a person views and evaluated the alternatives.”

Dixon wrote that leaders “with weak egos, with over-strong needs for approval and the closed minds will be the very ones least able to tolerate the nagging doubts of cognitive dissonance. In other words it will be the least rational who are the most likely to reduce dissonance by ignoring unpalatable intelligence. … the less justified a decision, the greater will be the dissonance and therefore the more rigorous its resolution … In short, an inability to admit one has been wrong will be the greater the more wrong one has been, and the more wrong has been the more bizarre will be subsequent attempts to justify the unjustifiable.”

Are these the reasons that Gillard stuck with the regional processing center idea for so long?

CLIMATE CHANGE

Kelly wrote that after trying to dissuade her predecessor on the issue, “Gillard now gives ringing speeches as a PM with a passion for carbon pricing” – and is “hell-bent” on it.

Dixon wrote about “the relationship between pontification and cognitive dissonance. Pontification is one of the ways in which people try to resolve their dissonance. By loudly asserting what is consistent with some decision they have made and ignoring what is contrary they can reduce their dissonance.”