eliefs (religious or otherwise), superstitions, and mis-information part of the category you gave as "confusion"?

Given false or confusing data a person will experience cognitive stress, which he hcan solve in a number of ways--he can attack the problem with analysis, he can succumb to it by deciding the Elders must be right and what he thinks doesn't matter, he can stave off the whole question with the Scarlett O'Hara technique ("I'll think about that tomorrow...", or he can ignore the whole thing temporarily.

This kind of cognitive dissonance in the head can be painful, and it comes about when presented with contrary bits of data, false data, mis-evaluated importance, skewed sequences, and so on. When these are combined with emotional duress or physica pain, it is a good bet he is going to carry scars and probably be bent out of shape in consequence.

Conversely, almost every confusion stems from wrestling with, and includes, incomplete or distorted data of the kinds mentioned. There may be others. Given sufficient data of sufficient accuracy and a purpose, most anyone can figure out most anything.

When a whole culture builds itself on false data ("Romans are inherently superior") it can bring down an empire because it can't think clearly and flexibly. Not to mention a family, a company, etc.

There is so much data-distortion in circulation, the amazing thing anything gets done at all!


A