Irrational thinking

Irrational thinking occurs when an individual's patterns of thinking about himself or the world are not based on objective reality.

Irrational thinking occurs when an individual's patterns of thinking about himself or the world are not based on objective reality. Irrational thinking often involves cognitive biases, delusionary thinking and illogical thinking (See also: Logic and Logical fallacies).

Cognitive biases caused irrational thinking

See also: Cognitive bias

• All-or-nothing thinking. Failing to see pros/cons, nuances or valid alternative perspectives.

• Jumping to conclusions: Making decisions without all the necessary facts to make a sound decision.

• Overgeneralization: Applying the outcome of a single situation to each and every similar situations

• Magnification and minimization. Focusing solely on the negative aspects of a situation and ignoring any positive aspects

• Emotional reasoning. Allowing your emotions to dictate your thinking rather than better inform your reasoning.

• Personalization. Believing that others' actions or opinions are a direct reaction to you when they are not.

Evidence-based thinking is used in the field of law.

• Catastrophizing: Forecasting the worse possible outcomes. Jumping to the worse possible conclusions.

• Labeling: Giving yourself or other a negative label based on a specific situation or behavior rather than the totality of their behavior. Ignoring recent positive behavior.

Characteristics of delusionary thinking

See also: Delusion and Pride and Superiority complex and Egocentric thinking and Hubris and Evidence-based thinking and Intellectual humility

• Unwavering belief that what they think is real despite all evidence to the contrary

• Persistence of holding the belief in spite of all evidence to the contrary

• Defensiveness when the delusionary belief is challenged

• Person holding the delusionary belief has an exaggerated sense of self-importance. See also: Pride and Superiority complex and Egocentric thinking and Hubris

• Person holding the delusionary belief has an exaggerated sense of their competence. See also: Dunning-Kruger effect and Intellectual humility

• Behaviorial changes that involved abnormal behavior

Illogical thinking

See also: Logical fallacies and Logic and Critical thinking and Evidence-based thinking

Illogical thinking is characterized by reasoning that:

Aristotle is often called the father of logic in the West.

1. Lacks coherence. Two of the definitions that the Merriam-Webster online dictionary gives for the word incoherent is "lacking orderly continuity, arrangement, or relevance" and "lacking normal clarity or intelligibility in speech or thought". The Collins English dictionary indicates concerning the word incoherent: "If someone is incoherent, they are talking in a confused and unclear way... If you say that something such as a policy is incoherent, you are criticizing it because the different parts of it do not fit together properly."

2. Jumps to premature conclusions without sufficient evidence. See: Evidence-based thinking

3. Relies on personal biases rather than facts/evidence and sound conclusions. See: Evidence-based thinking

4. Often includes distortions like overgeneralization, wishful thinking, magical thinking, or faulty cause and effect relationships

5. Frequently leading to conclusions that don't logically follow from the presented information. This often manifest itself via making assumptions based on limited data, ignoring relevant details, or interpreting situations in a highly subjective manner rather than an objective manner.

How to think more rationally

To think more rationally, use the following practices:

1. Use evidence-based thinking and critical thinking

2. Use the reasonable person standard used in the field law when engaged in decision making. "This is a common law idea, which asks the question of how a reasonable person would have behaved in circumstances similar to those with which the defendant was presented at the time of the alleged negligence."

3. Analyze problems/situations logically. See: Problem solving

4. Questioning your assumptions

5. Being open to changing your mind based on new evidence. See: Openness and Intellectual humility and Intellectual curiosity

6. Seeking out information from diverse perspectives. See also: Openness and Creativity

7. Focus on actively identifying and managing your emotions. Avoiding impulsive judgments based solely on feelings. See: Emotional intelligence and Self-awareness and Self-regulation and Metacognition

See also

• Rationalization
• Excusitis

External links

• How to Stop Irrational Thoughts by Katharina Star, PhD
• What Are Irrational Thoughts And How Can I Combat Them?
• Reframing unhelpful thoughts
• What Causes Irrational Thoughts and Can You Manage Them?