What Are Fallacies And How Can We Tackle Them?

Thoughts are mental products that arise from the ability we humans have to “work” with our minds. That is, we can interpret and judge everything that happens around us or that goes on inside our mind.

People spend hours, days, and even entire lives thinking. We evaluate what happens to us and think about unimportant and even abstract things. Sometimes we even produce thoughts that we are ashamed of. And at other times we travel in our minds to the past or to the future.

Our talent for thinking is, in short, enormous and knowing how to maintain this talent is an essential part of maintaining good emotional health. Our thoughts determine our emotions and these in turn determine our behavior.

Think, for example, of thoughts that make us feel unhealthy emotions, negative automatic thoughts, prejudices or cognitive distortions. Not every thought produces relevant emotions. For example, if I think, ” There’s a dog barking,”  it’s likely to generate nothing on an emotional level.

It would be different if I thought ‘ There is a dog barking’  and immediately give it the meaning ‘ That means he is dangerous and might attack me’  . Here the scenario changes completely, because I think my survival or integrity is at stake. This is dangerous, which means I would have to activate the fear response, with all that that entails.

Some typical thinking mistakes

There are many ideas, but we’re going to focus on analyzing those fallacies that I think are the most common. The fallacies of thinking that can affect us in a more pronounced way.

The Fortune Teller Error

This fallacy is produced when you are convinced you know what the other person is thinking. Or when you think something is about to happen and you even bet on the probability that this event will happen.

Obviously, this doesn’t make sense since no one really has the ability to predict what will happen in the future, what others will think, or even what your own mind will think or do in a few years. So why do we think we can be so sure that something is happening or will happen?  Or do we have an imaginary crystal ball that tells us these things?

Black and white thoughts

Because of these fallacies, you place certain qualities or characteristics at the ends of the spectrum, without taking into account the fact that  everything is not simply black or white. There are also all kinds of shades of gray. How many times have you told yourself that everything would go wrong if you made a mistake? Ask yourself: how can one mistake cause everything to go wrong? Aren’t you exaggerating a bit?

Personalization

You often see yourself as the center of the universe, in both good and bad situations. And you think that others are constantly preoccupied with you, with what you do or don’t do, how you dress, what you say, etc.

In reality, everyone is concerned with their own problems and not with the lives of others. And if not, then that person has a problem that they really should get looked at!

As you might guess,  you take everything personally with this error. And in this way you will feel a lot of fear, guilt, embarrassment, etc.

disaster thinking

You usually make this mistake when you exaggerate reality so much, without any kind of evidence, that you see threats and potential dangers everywhere. And you always think in terms of ‘ What if?’, ‘What if I cancel?’, ‘What if my girlfriend leaves me?’, ‘What if I’m sick?’ To each of these questions you answer ‘that would be terrible’. And you live as if it all really happened. As if it would be a disaster that you would never get over.

How can I make my thinking more objective?

Keep in mind that all these fallacies arise from different beliefs that are ingrained in us and have been ingrained since childhood. In short, being  objective is a process that takes time and effort, but can help you feel better.

You will become a more scientific and rational being, with fewer ideas, if you do the following:

Interpret reality only with your five senses

We can only know our reality by observing, touching, tasting, listening and smelling it. There is no sixth sense that can give us more information. So be aware of the present moment you are living in, with your five senses. For in this moment is the reality that you have access to. What is going to happen in the future or what is going on in another place or in someone else’s mind is not your reality, nor can you really know it.

Ask yourself scientific questions

If you want to get to know reality, in addition to using your five senses, you can also ask yourself things like:  How can I be sure that my colleague is criticizing me? What evidence do I have to think I will have an accident if I drive? What is the chance that I will actually get sick?

Be aware of where these thoughts come from

As we discussed earlier, prejudiced thoughts arise from beliefs. They are like the roots of a tree and cognitive errors are the blossom. Analyze what your beliefs are and you will find out why you make the thinking mistakes. Do you need love to be happy? Do you think worrying will help solve your problems? Do you think a certain kind of person is bad and deserves to be punished?

Conduct experiments

As if you were a scientist you  should conduct experiments that will confirm whether what you think is true or biased. For example, if you think someone is talking about you behind your back, you should gather your courage and ask that person if it’s true or not.

His answer will help you realize whether it was something you made up yourself or whether it was actually true. Of course, this person could also lie to you,  but you have no control over this! So focus on the things you can fix and forget everything else.