Tag archives: cognitive dissonance

That’s Not How You Say Your Name: What Happens When A Firmly Held Belief Gets Shattered
By Deann Zampelli   |   October 7, 2025

Like millions of other acolytes, I was among the literary lovers who began reading the Harry Potter series prior to them being brought to cinematic life. In my mind, Hermione was pronounced, “Her-Mee-Oh-Ne.” Not being English (at least by birth), I had never heard the name before and only had my (lack of) wits to […]

How Can We Be Smarter?
By Robert Bernstein   |   April 1, 2021

“Mistakes were made (but not by me)” is a quote attributed to President Reagan and later to President George W Bush. It is also the title of the book I would most recommend everyone should read. Before we can get smarter, perhaps we should find out “Why we justify foolish beliefs, bad decisions, and hurtful […]

Letters to the Editor
By Montecito Journal   |   May 2, 2019

The Crux of The Crucible Our production of Robert Ward’s The Crucible (based on the Arthur Miller play) was neither conceived nor performed as a political statement about the times in which we live, but rather focused on the allegorical context of the fallible nature of humankind and finding ultimate redemption: often at a heavy […]