Cognitive Dissonance: Difference between revisions

A classic illustration of cognitive dissonance is expressed in the fable "''The Fox and the Grapes''", pne of "Aesop's Fables". In the story, a fox sees some high-hanging grapes and wants to eat them.  When the fox can't think of a way to get to them, he decides that the grapes are probably not worth eating, with the justification the grapes probably are not ripe or that they are sour (from which we get the common phrase "sour grapes").  

This example follows a pattern: one desires something, finds it unattainable, and reduces one's dissonance by criticizing it.