Dismissing uncomfortable knowledge as already known is a defense mechanism

Evidence

We know from psychoanalysis that the reasoning, ‘But we know all this!’ is often a defence. This defence is made in order to dismiss insights as irrelevant because they are actually uncomfortable and make life more difficult for us than it already is by shaking our conscience when we are supposed to enjoy the ‘simple pleasures of life’. — Theodor W. Adorno, The Culture Industry, 259

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Adorno’s broader thesis on ideology critique and how cultural comfort suppresses critical awareness.
• QUESTION: The ‘conscience-shaking’ framing implies media critique has a moral valence — worth exploring how moral vs cognitive registers interact in his system.