Lesson 5. Irrational thinking

You are more likely to make thoughtful decisions or follow your intuition, or maybe you use both methods at once. Let's figure out what the difference is between rational and irrational thinking, and what type of thinking is best to develop. Rational thinking is based on the logical principle, blocking the influence of emotions, moods, and all subjective forms. Irrational thinking, on the contrary, turns primarily to feelings, emotions and experiences, without limiting thoughts to any boundaries.

Rational and irrational thinking are opposite sides of the same whole. Many people prefer to adhere to a rational approach without further developing other abilities. But these two types of thinking can perfectly complement each other. By learning contrarian thinking techniques, you will be able to navigate a variety of unknown situations faster.

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Irrational and its characteristics

If we try to explain the concept of “irrational” from the position of philosophy, then it can be characterized as a certain beginning of human nature, opposite to the property of rationality, i.e. understand this world intelligently. The irrational admits that there are areas of the worldview that the mind is not able to understand, but nevertheless they are acceptable thanks to faith, feelings, and intuition. Thus, the irrational is one of the characteristics of the special nature of reality. Over the years, issues of the irrational have been studied by such famous philosophers as Bergson, Delta, Nietzsche, Schopenhauer and many others.

So to speak, “free” individuals who do not think about the consequences can allow themselves to think irrationally. To act this way is to admit that reality cannot always be understood using scientific methods. Based on the views of supporters of irrational thinking, reality with all its components and derivatives, for example, life and psychological processes, is not subject to generally accepted laws.

Of course, such a position has its place, but in the case of critical thinking it is completely unsuitable. Irrational people strive to understand the laws of existence, violating all generally accepted laws, while rational people, on the contrary, think critically, not trusting what cannot be verified, relying only on reliable and confirmed facts. And, taking this into account, we must say that even if the irrational is characteristic of you, if you want to develop the ability to think critically, you must at least temporarily discard everything that may contradict it.

What exactly is to be discarded? Let's try to clarify this point, because irrational thoughts can be of different types.

Irrationality is in psychology. Different approaches

The term “rational psychology” was first introduced into science by Christian Wolf. By this concept he meant strictly defined relationships within the human soul. Psychology itself studies how a person perceives the world, how he thinks and feels, and according to what canons he builds his internal concepts of existence.

And what is irrationality in psychology? Psychologist A. Ellis described irrational thinking as over-pretentiousness. That is, the desire for self-deification, the refusal to accept one’s human framework, to accept the possibility of mistakes and imperfections around oneself and in oneself. Another psychologist, A. Beck, called unreasonable thinking simply cognitive errors. C. Jung believed that those who have “access” to archetypes are irrational and can create based on these archetypal images.

In fact, there are a lot of approaches in psychology. From what has been said, it can be established that in psychology, irrationality is the definition of thinking built on the basis of illusory ideas.

Typology of irrational thoughts and their influence

Irrational thoughts are thoughts that interfere with an objective and adequate perception of the surrounding reality, and from the position of behavioral psychology, they even cause unreasonable anxiety.

In total, we can distinguish three categories of irrational thinking and the corresponding types of thoughts:

1	Exaggeration. This includes thoughts like: “She noticed that I was unsure of myself,” “They definitely thought something was wrong with me,” “He sees right through me,” etc.
2	Overgeneralization. This includes thoughts like: “If I was chickening out then, then I’ll be chickening out now”, “He communicates with everyone like that - and he won’t ignore me”, “No one passed this exam - I have no chance”, etc.
3	Mind reading. This includes thoughts like: “She thinks I’m angry and conflicted,” “I know what you think about me,” “He realized that I thought badly of him,” etc.

There are other types of similar thoughts, but to one degree or another they will belong to one of the categories of irrational train of thought. Their greatest danger is that they trigger catastrophic thinking: a person plunges headlong into groundless worry and panic, and his ability to make decisions and act is completely paralyzed. There can be no question of any critical thinking here.

You can find topical visual examples of irrational thinking in books devoted to working with it. Here are some options:

“Think slowly... Decide quickly” Daniel Kahneman
"Emotional Intelligence" Goleman Daniel
"Emotional Flexibility" David Susan
“Problem Solving Using Intelligence Techniques” Jones Morgan
“Triggers. Form habits - build character" Goldsmith Marshall and Reiter Mark

Here it would be logical to talk a little about how irrational thinking influences what a person does.

As has already become clear, irrational means illogical, unscientific and without any criticism. Irrational actions are aimed at obtaining a result, but the actions themselves are not thought out or evaluated in advance. There are no meaningful options for the development of events, resolution of issues or solutions to problems in advance.

All this, as a rule, has a very direct connection with the spontaneous manifestation of feelings and emotions that irritate or calm thoughts. Irrational individuals can observe manifestations of reality beyond the limits of their logical explanations, and also tend to believe unconfirmed facts simply because they dominate others.

Such people neglect to use the so-called life instructions, i.e. thoughtful behavioral strategies and action algorithms. The basis for this behavior in most cases is a person’s belief in a positive outcome, even if he completely does not understand the practical basis and reasons for success if it is achieved. Most often, success is explained by luck or favor of fate.

But from a practical and even more so from a critical position, either a very spiritual person or a child can allow themselves to behave this way. In addition, when thinking or drawing conclusions, it is effectively guided by the rule of conservation of energy, and thinking irrationally, simply relying on patterns and the first information received, is less expensive in terms of time and effort. But if knowledge based on upbringing or experience is irrational, nothing good will come of it.

Here is just a small list of factors that hinder effective thinking and correct actions - irrational thinking:

Spontaneously and without reason.
Leads a person away from the right thoughts.
May interfere with a person's daily activities.
Reduces efficiency in professional and other areas.
Often activated when it is not needed.
Causes irritability, depression and anxiety.
Disrupts adaptation to the outside world.
Not flexible.
Causes the development of perfectionism.
Produces fear of public speaking.
Produces fear of communicating with authorities and more knowledgeable people.
Reduces motivation to achieve new results.
Can plunge a person into loneliness.
Causes problems in personal, social and professional life.
Creates dependence on other people and public opinion.
Promotes the development of bad habits.

Behavioral psychology, and even banal everyday experience, suggest that the sooner a person realizes the irrationality and illogicality of his thoughts and actions, the faster favorable changes will begin to occur in his life: the number of negative events and mistakes will be reduced, his psyche will become stronger and his resistance to stress, personal productivity and efficiency will increase, and a critical approach to information processing will be formed.

It is wrong for a sane person to think irrationally. But this obstacle to the development of critical thinking can only be overcome when the reasons for its appearance are known. And it’s worth talking about them in more detail.

Irrationality of claims

Irrationality in psychology is an unreasonable approach to reality in terms of expectations from other people. By assuming that other people owe us something, we set ourselves up for disappointment.

Such expectations are called irrational because they are not based on any objective agreement. You can expect something only after a mutual agreement, when two adults clearly define each other’s responsibilities and rights. They are also biased beyond what they expect from themselves.

Causes of irrational thinking

To begin with, it is worth saying that behavioral stereotypes are often laid down in early childhood. They are necessary because not only save energy and time for making decisions, but also contribute to initial adaptation to life and society, ensuring the survival of the individual. But upon reaching adulthood, a person begins to encounter “failures”, i.e. with problems with irrational thinking. The main reasons for this are the following:

Not all mental patterns and mechanisms formed in childhood turn out to be correct.
Not all thought patterns and mechanisms that are suitable for a child are suitable for an adult.

Irrationalism is a disorder of thinking. Subsequently, this leads to problems of adaptation to the surrounding reality. In addition, destructive basic attitudes are formed in the human mind, namely:

✔	Excessive demands on oneself (I should do this, I shouldn’t do that).
✔	Excessive demands on the environment (they should do this, they shouldn’t do that).
✔	Catastrophization (if this happens, it’s the end, horror, death, catastrophe, everything is lost, etc.)
✔	Low frustration tolerance (I won’t be able to survive this, this is the end for me, etc.)

Adding up all the thoughts above, the output we get is something like: “In no case should I stumble during my speech. If I suddenly stumble, they should not make fun of me. But if this happens, it means the end for me, I won’t survive it.”

In reality, the variety of thoughts can be much wider, but if you discard all unnecessary things, you can always see the standard mechanism of irrational thinking, working each time in different situations in a modified form. By the way, such a scheme often causes all sorts of human fears.

Any problem, any phenomenon or process, when confronted with which a person experiences psychological discomfort, can be disassembled into elements in order to find the main irrational scheme that causes fear, anxiety, panic and other manifestations and disrupts interaction with the outside world.

In simple terms, someone who is unable to distinguish between fiction and truth, as well as find cause-and-effect relationships, is using irrational thinking. It will never help you predict events or calculate the results of your actions, which is why spontaneous actions and unnecessary experiences arise.

But rational and critical thinking to some extent also includes an irrational, one might say spiritual, component. For example, people of art, creating unique works, often contradict logical laws, although they act deliberately. However, the irrational should not dominate the mind of a sane person, and its manifestations can and should be fought.

Pre-neurotic state. The role of attitudes

The danger of irrational perception and an unreasonable way of thinking in the development of deep and long-lasting neuroses. Negative attitudes and constant anxiety lead to a pre-neurotic state. When an individual's nervous system becomes tired of incomprehensible alarm signals, it experiences functional overload. But a person cannot do anything about his condition, since he is not aware of his negative and biased attitudes.

Rationality is more useful in this regard than irrationality. In psychology, this meaning is quite serious. Helping to make the transition to rational thinking is the main task of a psychoanalyst who works with such a patient.

How to deal with irrational thinking?

Overcoming irrationalism is not easy, but with due diligence and systematic training it is quite possible. It's just important to know what to do. There are many ways, and now we will introduce them to you.

Definition of irrational thoughts

Identifying irrational thoughts is difficult only at the first stage. Often they appear in the head very quickly and automatically, they appear as if out of nowhere, and it is almost impossible to catch them consciously. For this reason, the task can be simplified: get yourself a notebook, where throughout the day and every day you will write down thoughts that can cause you negative emotions, anxiety and worries. With practice, it will become easy to determine their appearance, because... your brain will be trained and adapted to it.

Establishing objectivity of thoughts

When you are calm, relaxed and nothing is bothering you, ask yourself the question: “How objective are my thoughts?” For example, today someone didn’t want to communicate with you, and you immediately started thinking up God knows what. But look at the situation critically: maybe he was just tired and out of sorts? And if you showed a little timidity when communicating with someone, will that someone really have a negative opinion of you?

To become more aware of the bias in your thoughts, use a simple technique: look at the situation from a new perspective. Those. if you see a person exhibiting the same timidity, do you immediately think badly of that person? And if you don’t want to communicate with someone at the moment, does that mean that you don’t like him? Most likely, this is not the case at all. Always evaluate the situation from several sides, and life will become much simpler and more interesting.

Replacing the irrational with the rational

Another method is the systematic replacement of irrational thoughts with rational, more objective ones. But you can expect tangible results only after some time. At the first steps, psychological discomfort may be felt, but it must be bravely overcome with daily training. Gradually, the new habit will take hold and enter your comfort zone.

Here is an example of good thoughts that can replace irrational ones: “It’s quite possible that he didn’t notice my timidity,” “It might have seemed to me that she didn’t want to communicate,” “Yes, they most likely didn’t even think about me,” etc. P.

If we summarize these three methods, we can draw the following conclusion: for example, in a few minutes you will have to make contact with an unfamiliar person. The time before the meeting is getting shorter, and your anxiety is getting stronger. And now is the time to ask yourself why you are scared. Most likely, the fear is due to the fact that your future interlocutor may notice some peculiarities in your behavior: a slightly hesitant voice, a slight trembling of your hands, etc., which is why he will have a negative image of you. This is where critical thinking skills come into play:

The interlocutor’s thoughts may be occupied with something else at the time of communication.
The interlocutor may not notice the peculiarities of your behavior.
Even if the interlocutor notices something, he is unlikely to analyze it, and after a few minutes he will already forget about you.

You can see for yourself that there is really nothing terrible. Irrational thinking plays a cruel joke. But with regular implementation of such a procedure, anxiety states will gradually begin to recede and lose strength.

Here are a few more good techniques for dealing with the irrational that behavioral psychology offers us:

Don't go to extremes

When assessing a situation, try to avoid extremes like “this is definitely bad”, “only this is good”, “this is the end”, “one way or not at all”, etc. There are several ways to overcome such thoughts :

1	Eliminate extreme words such as “never” or “always” from your vocabulary. Stop using these terms to refer to yourself, the people around you, and the world in which you live.
2	Accept the fact that there are no bad or good people, bad or good situations. In any person and in any situation, if desired, you can find advantages and positive aspects.
3	Give up categorical thinking. Sometimes it is better to accept yourself along with your shortcomings and weaknesses than to convince yourself and others of their absence. Often this helps justify your behavior and thinking.

Remember that extremes are always harmful.

Avoid catastrophic thoughts

By exaggerating the scale and significance of the problem, you make things worse for yourself. When talking about something unpleasant, you shouldn’t give “not very good” the form “nightmarish.” your attitude towards problems and troubles :

Think about the fact that the problematic situation, although not good, does not at all lead to inevitable death and the collapse of all hopes.
Try to compare the problematic situation with something truly terrible, for example, the death of someone close, or how homeless or unjustly imprisoned people feel.

You can also try to calm yourself down:

“There’s really nothing wrong with it to be so worried.”
“Yes, it’s unpleasant, but life doesn’t end there.”
“In any case, everything will work out.”
“No one has ever died from this.”

These things actually work. Check it out for yourself.

Think objectively

If you notice that you are prone to exaggeration and irrationalism, and often imagine dire consequences for even minor problems, practice thinking objectively:

✔	Life presents not only trials, but also joyful events, and a black streak will always be followed by a white one.
✔	Even if the outcome of a situation may be bad, its probability is extremely low.
✔	Why worry about something that didn't happen? Most likely, nothing bad will happen, and worrying is just a waste of energy.

Model different scenarios and then predict the likelihood of each of them occurring.

Mentally relax

Many people often have the thought “I can’t do this anymore.” But this is typical of irrational and insecure people. To overcome irrational thoughts, you need to reformulate your belief and convince yourself that, despite the difficulties at the moment, after a while you will feel better and you will solve your problems.

And, summing up this section, all that remains to be said is that the most effective way to overcome irrationalism and negative experiences is a critical approach: question your feelings and sensations and analyze the illogical and irrational thoughts that underlie them.

Irrational thinking is generated by a person’s desire to believe in his fantasies. These are almost incoherent arguments that have no logical basis and are based on feelings and assumptions. Rational and critical thinking, on the contrary, consists in taking only facts and evidence based on logic and cause-and-effect relationships as the basis for reflection and future actions. The benefits and effectiveness of this approach are obvious and undeniable, but we’ll still say a few words about it.

Kinds

Like any aspect of the scientific or philosophical understanding of a particular field of study, the non-logical study of the world is divided into varieties. Types of irrational cognition are represented by several human abilities that cannot be argued from the point of view of a scientifically based theory or proven as a fact. This is something empirical, something that exists beyond mental understanding - in fact, like everything irrational.

What are these varieties?

Benefits of Rational Thinking

Rational thinking helps to draw conclusions and make decisions using logical chains. The desire to think critically and rationally helps to work on your shortcomings. When logical thinking is taken into account, a person stops performing spontaneous actions, and this minimizes the occurrence of unpleasant surprises.

When we think rationally, we begin to see things as they are, we can explain what previously seemed inexplicable, we become calmer and find the shortest and most effective ways to achieve our goals, and we are able to focus on the things that are of highest priority at the moment.

Learning to think rationally is not difficult. All you need to do is follow a few simple rules and tips:

1	All thinking must begin with a search for reliable information. This is not always easy, but it is impossible to build logical chains leading to the right conclusions and actions without verified data.
2	When thinking about something, always take into account the fact that not only the other person’s position, but also your own may be incorrect. Ask others what they think about the subject of your thoughts. This will allow you to look at the situation from different angles.
3	Do not take only external manifestations as the basis for your judgments about the actions and behavior of others. Are you sure that the person does not want to communicate with you? What is this conclusion based on? Based on speculation or logic? Guessing doesn't mean anything. You must strive to find out the truth. When you want to be sure of something, look for facts that confirm it.
4	Never think for a person and make decisions for him, do not try to read his thoughts. One of the rules of effective communication is to listen carefully to your interlocutor and perceive only what he says.
5	If, when communicating with a person, you have doubts about the sincerity of his actions and words, just ask him a few direct questions, express your thoughts that concern you and try to communicate confidentially.

The advantages of rational thinking can be clearly demonstrated with the following example: you talked with a person and he voiced his grievances and reproaches to you, explained that your views and actions are unacceptable to him. The first thing you want to do in response is to repay in the same coin. However, what will be the result, other than misunderstandings, quarrels and hostility? Perhaps even more emotional discomfort and a long-term break in the relationship.

It will be much more effective to try to maintain calm, balance and dignity. And rational thinking suggests doing a much simpler thing in this case: analyze your actions and words that caused criticism and dissatisfaction from your interlocutor, and accept a critical opinion from the outside. You need to come to a compromise - seek mutual understanding and agreement on an issue on which you have different views. At the same time, you should make it clear to the other person that problematic situations can be resolved without humiliation, scandals and insults, and this is acceptable for you.

A rational approach and the development of critical thinking will help you regain peace of mind and psychological comfort. In any situation when you find yourself in the grip of irrational thoughts caused by emotions, fatigue, overwork or stress, banish them from yourself as soon as possible.

It doesn’t matter who you are: a chemist, a physicist, a mathematician, a military man, a businessman, a simple company employee or a student, rational and critical thinking can be an effective means for you to achieve goals, solve everyday and professional problems, improve communication with people and interact with others peace, self-knowledge and development of one’s abilities.

To increase your immunity to irrational thoughts, we recommend that you lead a healthy lifestyle, get plenty of rest, sleep properly, develop your brain, and cultivate a good mood and positive attitude. And, of course, read the relevant literature: Daniel Kahneman “Think Slow, Decide Fast”, Kate Stanovich “Rational Thinking. What aptitude tests don’t measure”, Diana Halpern “The Psychology of Critical Thinking”, Robert Burton “Mind VS Brain. Conversation in different languages" and other books.

Examples

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To clearly understand the meaning of this philosophical theory, it is necessary to consider an example of irrational cognition. More precisely, it would be more correct to say here - an example of irrational thinking.

Let us assume that there is a belief that there is always a single correct solution to any problem, and it must be found, otherwise disaster is inevitable. This belief is considered to be irrational. Why? Because there is no one ideal solution, because then the imaginary outcome of an unsuccessful search for an ideal way out of the situation would be unrealistic and could provoke anxiety or panic, which of itself leads to making the wrong decision.

In such a situation, the rational conclusion would be to search for different possible solutions to such a problem, in which several versions of the possible outcome of events would be found. From these several variations, one could choose the most suitable one. Here, too, the difference between one concept and another is clearly visible.

If we give a more mundane, non-philosophical example of the method of irrational cognition, then its meaning can be explained by the banal learning to ride a bicycle. For example, when you learn to ride a two-wheeled vehicle, you do not resort to a logical chain and do not build a lot of interconnected and interdependent conclusions. This happens as if on a subconscious level.

In other words, the irrational way of thinking, as well as cognizing the world, is associated with intuitive, so to speak, mechanical techniques for mastering the surrounding possibilities. This also includes exaggeration, overgeneralization, mind reading, and other similar non-verbal and non-logical ways of knowing.

Clairaudience

The category of knowledge, which, due to its groundlessness, is considered almost absurd, still takes place in the chain of irrational phenomena. Similar to clairvoyance, clairaudience also manifests itself in images and signals, but a person with such amazing abilities does not see them, but hears them. The controversy surrounding clairaudience mostly boils down to a mental disorder in which a person begins to hear voices. Often such manifestations are identified with schizophrenia. But the theory itself of people “hearing” the inexplicable has not been completely refuted.

Premonition

This form of irrational cognition is in close contact with intuition, since in its most literal sense its meaning is determined by the intuitive prediction of the occurrence of some event or the origin of some action. It manifests itself differently for everyone, but many don’t risk ignoring it. After all, this is a kind of signal from the body, a signal from the internal center of sensations that something is about to happen. And this something can carry both a positive and a negative message.

Premonition can also play a decisive role in meeting a new person. It often happens that when meeting a stranger, we are overcome by an inexplicable feeling of reluctance to continue the introductory conversation. How to explain this phenomenon? After all, a person for us is a completely new face, a potentially unknown and unread book. We know nothing about him, but the hostility is already present. This happens on a subconscious level, we instinctively have a presentiment that communication with him may not be successful, we want to push this subject of our fears as far away from ourselves as possible. Can this be explained logically? No. This is an irrational category of human abilities and sensations.