Multiple-TED attendee and human factors expert, Ash Donaldson, wants us to better understand why we believe in what we do. In this talk, Ash explains how our minds faced with contradicting ideas protects itself and how we manage to sometimes rationalize behaviors that we know are not in our best interest. Along the way, he tells us his own encounter with cognitive dissonance in a fascinating experience as a trainee pilot.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx