Jacob 1 - That We Might Persuade Them to Come Unto Christ I'm taking an online economics class right now, which prompted me to think of the definition of economics in the context of the scriptures. Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources. In the case of Nephi and his successor Jacob, the plates upon which they engraved their record was a scarce resource. They were costly to make and difficult to engrave, and instilling a tradition of passing them through generations was surely cumbersome. Recognizing the great importance of spiritual things and the challenge of maintaining records, Nephi instructed Jacob to prioritize religious instruction saying, " if there were preaching which was sacred, or revelation which was great, or prophesying, that I should engraven the heads of them upon these plates, and touch upon them as much as it were possible, for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of our people" (Jacob 1:4). This priority was not only reflecte...
After Lehi's death, Nephi is warned to separate himself and and his people from Laman and Lemuel, who plotted to kill him. They said, "let us slay him, that we may not be afflicted more because of his words" (2 Nephi 5:3). Laman and Lemuel's extreme response to Nephi's teachings and chastisement reminds me of the psychological principle of cognitive dissonance.
We hold many thoughts about the world and ourselves. When they clash, a discrepancy arises, resulting in a state of tension. Since the experience of dissonance is unpleasant, we are motivated to reduce or eliminate it, which can give rise to irrational and sometimes maladaptive behavior (McLeod). Laman and Lemuel felt conflict between their actions and the teachings of Nephi. The feelings of dissonance were so acute, they were willing to murder their brother to find reprieve.
Many of the self-defeating decisions that I have made in my life have stemmed from my unwise attempts to reduce dissonance. Conversely, increasing my level of comfort with ambiguity has given me space to make choices that align with my beliefs and values. Reducing cognitive dissonance in my life has been a desirable and worthwhile pursuit when I have been aware that dissonance was at work, and when mindfulness, not emotional crisis, has informed my decisions. At the risk of going off on a tangent, here are some of the sources of dissonance, and some of the ways we try to avoid or eliminate dissonance (for better or for worse).
Many of the self-defeating decisions that I have made in my life have stemmed from my unwise attempts to reduce dissonance. Conversely, increasing my level of comfort with ambiguity has given me space to make choices that align with my beliefs and values. Reducing cognitive dissonance in my life has been a desirable and worthwhile pursuit when I have been aware that dissonance was at work, and when mindfulness, not emotional crisis, has informed my decisions. At the risk of going off on a tangent, here are some of the sources of dissonance, and some of the ways we try to avoid or eliminate dissonance (for better or for worse).
Forced Compliance: When someone is "forced" to do (publicly) something they (privately) really don't want to do, dissonance is created between their cognition (I didn't want to do this) and their behavior (I did it). Forced compliance occurs when an individual performs an action that is inconsistent with his or her beliefs (McLeod). In the context of religion, this may look like fulfilling the outward performances of faith (things like going to church, or refraining from drinking alcohol) out of social obligation without a personal belief or desire to do so.
- To reduce dissonance, we may re-evaluate our attitude about what we have done (i.e. we may come to believe that commandments are restrictive social constructs versus commandments form God).
Decision Making: Making a decision cuts off the possibility that you can enjoy the advantages of the unchosen alternative, yet it assures you that you must accept the disadvantages of the chosen alternative (McLeod).
Effort: If we put effort into a task which we have chosen to carry out, and the task turns out badly, we experience dissonance (McLeod). - To reduce dissonance, we can change the behavior (which is often very difficult), or increase the attractiveness of the chosen alternative and decrease the attractiveness of the rejected alternative.
- To reduce dissonance, we may try to convince ourselves that the task turned out well, that it wasn't really a lot of effort, or that the effort was really quite enjoyable.
The ultimate goal is to live after what Nephi describes as the "manner of happiness" (2 Nephi 5:27). Nephi elaborates that, "We did ... keep the judgments [of the Lord]," "[we did ... keep] the statutes [of the Lord]," "[we did ... keep] the commandments of the Lord," and as a result "the Lord was with us" (2 Nephi 5:10). He also recounts that "we did sow seed," "we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind," and as a result "we did reap again in abundance," and "we did prosper exceedingly" (2 Nephi 5:11). It almost seems too simple, but Nephi and his people were happy because they strove to keep the commandments and worked hard in their temporal affairs.
Image Credit: Dzoko Stach
McLeod, S. A. (2014). Cognitive Dissonance. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html
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