The ostrich effect
The ostrich effect is a cognitive bias that causes people to avoid situations where they might encounter information that they perceive as negative. The name of this effect comes from the myth that ostriches bury their heads in the sand when faced with a dangerous situation. This form of thinking is attributed to the concept of selective exposure, which is when people selectively choose which new information they want to process, and which information they prefer to avoid.
The ostrich effect Example
Afghans have been telling us for years that Pakistan has been backing the Afghan Taliban and housing its leaders and those of Al Qaida, including Osama Bin Laden. As this is the same Pakistan that the US is funding with billions of dollars each year to ensure Pakistan's nuclear weapons don't fall into the hands of extremists and to assist in the battle against Islamic extremism, the US didn't want to believe the masses of evidence being gathered by its intelligence agencies about Pakistan's duplicity.
For years, America's "denial" of Pakistan's dual strategy was the world's best example of the Ostrich Effect. And it still is to some extent, but it seems the US ostrich has finally extracted one of its eyes from the sand, leaving the Pakistanis playing the plausible deniability card about as hard as it can be played.
9/11 Attacks
The collapse of the 47-story structure as key evidence that the U.S. government orchestrated or abetted the 9/11 attacks. No planes struck the building, and the commonly available views of the exterior didn't show significant damage. Yet, at 5:20 pm, 7 hours after the collapse of the Twin Towers (WTC 1 and 2), WTC 7 rapidly fell in on itself. The WTC 7 housed Secret Service and CIA offices.
Larry Silverstein
The insurance policies for World Trade Center buildings 1 WTC, 2 WTC, 4 WTC and 5 WTC had a collective face amount of $3.55 billion. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Silverstein sought to collect double the face amount (~$7.1 billion) on the basis that the two separate airplane strikes into two separate buildings constituted two occurrences within the meaning of the policies. (He filed the Insurance policies 2 months before the attacks.)
The pentagon
The pentagon is one of the most secured building in the united states right? so why did they only release one crappy video of the "plane Hitting the pentagon"? you would think that such a facility would have hundreds of cameras... but they only release a barley visible impact? why would people buy into this? (not to mention the F.B.I confiscated surrounding store surveillance camera footages as well. And still to this day nothing has been released.
Experienced pilots trying to recreate in simulation
September 5, 2007 - U.S. Navy Top Gun pilot, Commander Ralph Kolstad, started questioning the official account of 9/11 within days of the event. It just didn't make any sense to me, he said. And now 6 years after 9/11 he says, When one starts using his own mind, and not what one was told, there is very little to believe in the official story.
Now retired, Commander Kolstad was a top-rated fighter pilot during his 20-year Navy career. Early in his career, he was accorded the honor of being selected to participate in the Navys Top Gun air combat school, officially known as the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School. The Tom Cruise movie, Top Gun reflects the experience of the young Navy pilots at the school. Eleven years later, Commander Kolstad was further honored by being selected to become a Top Gun adversary instructor. While in the Navy, he flew F-4 Phantoms, A-4 Skyhawks, and F-14 Tomcats and completed 250 aircraft carrier landings.
Commander Kolstad had a second career after his 20 years of Navy active and reserve service and served as a commercial airline pilot for 27 years, flying for American Airlines and other domestic and international careers. He flew Boeing 727, 757 and 767, McDonnell Douglas MD-80, and Fokker F-100 airliners. He has flown a total of over 23,000 hours in his career.
Commander Kolstad is especially critical of the account of American Airlines Flight 77 that allegedly crashed into the Pentagon. He says, At the Pentagon, the pilot of the Boeing 757 did quite a feat of flying. I have 6,000 hours of flight time in Boeing 757s and 767s and I could not have flown it the way the flight path was described.
Commander Kolstad adds, I was also a Navy fighter pilot and Air Combat Instructor and have experience flying low altitude, high speed aircraft. I could not have done what these beginners did. Something stinks to high heaven!
He points to the physical evidence at the Pentagon impact site and asks in exasperation, Where is the damage to the wall of the Pentagon from the wings? Where are the big pieces that always break away in an accident? Where is all the luggage? Where are the miles and miles of wire, cable, and lines that are part and parcel of any large aircraft? Where are the steel engine parts? Where is the steel landing gear? Where is the tail section that would have broken into large pieces?
This is the same Type of Material used in the pentagons architecture, the plane was gone, but the wall was completely fine, nothing went through...
corruption involved 25% of the tax dollars where did it go?
United Airlines Flight 93
United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on board, as part of the September 11 attacks. It crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, during an attempt by the passengers and crew to regain control. All 44 people on board were killed, including the four hijackers.
No bodies but these items survived? items made out of cotton,and paper and plastic? doesn't it just look like they shot the plane down? and placed abunch of items in a hole?
The secret to handling problems is knowing which approach to take. If you actively embrace the Ostrich Effect, you are ignoring the problem. That's fine. It's a technique that works for certain types of problem.
you are just delaying the inevitable. If you know this is happening (i.e., you can say "I am being consumed by the Ostrich Effect"), you are more likely to face the demon earlier (which more often than not is beneficial). Therefore, understanding the Ostrich Effect will help you in your decision to ignore, tackle or manage the problem.
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