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WonderStory

In 1954, psychologist Leon Festinger and colleagues secretly joined a small Chicago group who believed a great flood would end the world and a flying saucer would rescue them. When nothing happened, some of the most committed members decided their faith had saved the world, and began spreading their beliefs more eagerly than before.

Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken & Stanley Schachter, When Prophecy Fails (1956)

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The story behind the card

The group was led by Dorothy Martin, called Marian Keech in the book, who said she received messages from beings on another planet warning of a flood before dawn on 21 December 1954. Some members had left jobs and given away possessions before the date. Festinger, Henry Riecken and Stanley Schachter described what happened in 'When Prophecy Fails' (1956). It became a founding case for Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance: the discomfort of holding two ideas, or an idea and an action, that clash. He argued that people often ease that discomfort not by dropping the belief but by reinterpreting the evidence, especially when they have given up a lot for it and others around them share it.

Türkçe oku
Psikolog Leon Festinger ve çalışma arkadaşları 1954'te, dünyanın büyük bir selle sona ereceğine ve kendilerini bir uçan dairenin kurtaracağına inanan küçük bir Chicago grubuna gizlice katıldı. Hiçbir şey olmayınca, en bağlı üyelerin bir kısmı dünyayı kendi inançlarının kurtardığına karar verdi ve inancını eskisinden de hevesle yaymaya başladı.

Grubun başında, kitapta Marian Keech adıyla anılan Dorothy Martin vardı. Martin, başka bir gezegendeki varlıklardan mesajlar aldığını ve 21 Aralık 1954 sabahı gün doğmadan büyük bir sel geleceğini söylüyordu. Bazı üyeler o günü beklerken işlerinden ayrılmış, eşyalarını dağıtmıştı. Festinger, Henry Riecken ve Stanley Schachter yaşananları 1956'da “When Prophecy Fails” (Kehanet Gerçekleşmeyince) adlı kitapta anlattı. Kitap, Festinger'in bilişsel çelişki kuramının temel örneklerinden biri oldu. Bilişsel çelişki, birbiriyle çatışan iki düşünceyi ya da bir düşünceyle bir davranışı aynı anda taşımanın verdiği rahatsızlıktır. Festinger'e göre insanlar bu rahatsızlığı çoğu zaman inançtan vazgeçerek değil, kanıtları yeniden yorumlayarak giderir; hele o inanç için çok şey feda etmişlerse ve çevrelerinde aynı inancı paylaşanlar varsa.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: When Prophecy Fails
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