Dr. Carol Tavris — Mistakes Were Made (But Not by Me)

Cognitive dissonance—the psychological discomfort from holding contradictory beliefs—drives humans to create fictions that absolve us of responsibility, restore our belief in our competence and morality, and maintain our self-image, even when this prevents us from acknowledging our mistakes and adapting to new evidence; this self-justification mechanism, which has been extensively studied for 50 years and confirmed by thousands of experiments including neurological research showing that reasoning areas of the brain shut down when confronted with dissonant information, explains why people resist changing their minds despite overwhelming evidence, why professionals in various fields often fail to correct harmful practices, and why even well-intentioned individuals can cause significant harm through their inability to admit error and adjust their beliefs accordingly.