Cognitive distortions that undermine clear thinking

Not really in the same vein, but I have noticed the following logical fallacy is extremely common.<p>On average, X is more likely than Y, therefore in any specific case, X is more likely than Y.<p>This is not true at all, and leads to some really dumb conclusions. Not a perfect example but : gun owners in the USA on average are more likely to hurt themselves with their firearm than successfully use the firearm on an intruder. Now, if you follow proper firearm practices, then your chance of hurting yourself is basically 0. This average number includes the vast swathe of people who really have no business owning a firearm. If you are educated and take it seriously, though, you won&#x27;t hurt yourself. And yet this statistic has really stuck with people and I hear people use it all the time to assert that anyone that owns a gun is putting their own life at risk, regardless of how they treat the gun.

“Your emotions result entirely from the way you look at things.”<p>I wholly disagree with this foundational principle of CBT. Feelings of, say, anxiety or depression can completely bypass rational thought. For me this is easily testable by having a cup of coffee. After that drink I will (often) feel less depressed and (sometimes) be more anxious. I may have thoughts that stem from these sensations. Just as sometimes I may have sensations that stem from thoughts. The system to me seems more complex than thoughts &gt; emotions.

The biggest distortion to clear thinking are people in power shutting down thought in a variety of ways, be it social, psychological, physical, manipulation, threats, etc.<p>Intelligent people require power, or the approval of those in power, to thrive, and knowing logical fallacies in other peoples thinking or actions, or sometimes in your own, doesnt by itself give you the power to change anything and can in fact be even more dispiriting.

Practicing rationality literally improves the quality of our thoughts. It’s a worthy dare I say noble?) goal.<p>“Most people would rather die than think and many of them do!” - Bertrand Russell

All of these distortions as well as a practical exercise identify and help correct them are available in this book called &quot;Feeling Good&quot; that I think was published in the 80&#x27;s or 90&#x27;s.<p>I&#x27;ve seen them recycled targeting different audiences but the same core principles are used. I just recommend &quot;Feeling Good&quot; because it&#x27;s on Libby &#x2F; Amazon &lt; $5.<p>I started keeping a weekly spreadsheet tracking my BURNS score and made an effort to regularly write down when I have a bad thought and put it on trial to see if it fits any of these distortions.<p>That paired with exercise alone has made a big difference in my mood.<p>But that&#x27;s just all anecdotal.

I would like to add one: &quot;You are unsuccessful because of your cognitive distortions.&quot; As tools, I think these apply more to group dynamics than individual psychology.

Various cognitive biases obstruct rational thinking when allocating one&#x27;s investments, such as the sunk-loss fallacy. It&#x27;s a difficult thing to fight, even when you&#x27;re well aware of those biases.<p>What I do is think &quot;what would I do if this was all Monopoly money, and I&#x27;m just playing Monopoly with it?&quot; I usually discover I would allocate things very differently.<p>I&#x27;m still not able to overcome my biases when dealing with actual money, but I can move in that direction. It helps.

The most important cognitive distortion to be aware of is that being aware of cognitive distortions will make you more rational. No matter how hard you practice rationality, you will exhibit these distortions at some point or the other. Various rationality movements over the years (the most popular recent one being new atheism) stand as evidence of this.

I love gathering the concepts listed in these kinds of articles.<p>The structure or grand narrative to organize these concepts into a coherent whole is always missing though.<p>Not sure about it.<p>We build more sophisticated programming architectures than pop psychology presents to us in these articles.

I was talking to a guy: &quot;I don&#x27;t suffer from any cognitive biases because my dyslexia makes me think and learn in a way different than everyone else&quot;<p>Me: &quot;Just the one, right?&quot; Him: &quot;huh?&quot; Me: &quot;Denial&quot;

Facts without evidence about cognition?<p>Cognitive dissonance.