Thinking traps

[Teacher]

The ability to think rationally and clearly in various situations is one of the important abilities of a successful person. In this article, we will describe 5 features of our consciousness that, under certain circumstances, can lead us to wrong conclusions.

Excessive trust in first thoughts
“Does Australia's area exceed 3 million square meters? km? What do you think is its area? "Having asked such a question to a group of people, most of the respondents named numbers close to or not much higher than three million (although in fact Australia's area is almost 7.7 million square kilometers).

Initial information can be decisive for making a decision and a vector of reasoning. This maneuver is used well in sales, so it is always important to be careful with your first thoughts.

Striving to keep order
Our psyche tends to maintain stability and orderliness. We tend to follow well-established behaviors and patterns. These templates are often not the most effective. Thus, if we do not receive positive reinforcement, which tempts us to change patterns of behavior, then the status Quo takes over, and we move along the usual trajectory.

When we wishful thinking
The trap starts working when we have our own opinion about something, there is not enough confidence to make a decision, and we start calling those very acquaintances who have just done the same, looking for confirmation of our own innocence. In this case, the interpretation of information is greatly distorted, since deep down a person is simply looking for confirmation of his own truth.

When everyone does it
The actions of other people affect us greatly, even if we try very hard not to admit it. Collective pressure, fear of appearing stupid, “herd” instinct, the need for “social proof”. Thus, some of our decisions are made not on the basis of rationality, but because “everyone does it”. In order to cope with this trap, it is important to be courageous and to reduce the influence of the opinions of other people on yourself.

Illusion of control
There are situations in our life that we can influence and situations that we cannot influence in any way.

Interestingly, even in a situation that we are completely unable to control, we still have an irrational confidence that we can influence the result. We just like to feel that the situation is under our control. The tendency to overestimate our ability to control a situation affects almost every aspect of our daily life. While some of the consequences are obviously the result of our own decisions, others are beyond our direct control. In this regard, it is important to ask yourself the question "What can I influence in this case?"