BIASES ....Affecting our Decision Making

Recently in my new assignment I realized that by looking the face of a boy of class 11th I felt that he can't be culprit but later it was found that he was the kingpin ..

Have you ever shouted, “I knew that was going to happen!” after indian team wins by hitting 3 sixes in last over....

Have you ever found yourself only reading news stories that further support your own opinion?

Above mentioned  are our biases /cognitive distortions....

 Cognitive distortion/Bias

They  are unconscious errors in thinking that arise from problems related to memory, attention, and other mental mistakes.

These biases result from our brain’s efforts to simplify the incredibly complex world in which we live.

Cognitive biases have direct implications on our safety, our interactions with others, and the way we make judgments and decisions in our daily lives.

Somd of the cognitive distortion/Biases are as follows (and some of them overlap):

• Black-and-white (or all-or-nothing) Thinking I never have anything interesting to say.
• Jumping to conclusions (or mind-reading)The doctor is going to tell me I have cancer.
• Personalization Our team lost because of me.
• Should-ing and must-ing (using language that is self-critical that puts a lot of pressure on you): I should be losing weight.
• Mental filter (focusing on the negative, such as the one aspect of a health change which you didn’t do well): I am terrible at getting enough sleep.
• Overgeneralization: I’ll never find a partner.
• Magnification and minimization (magnifying the negative, minimizing the positive): It was just one healthy meal.
• Fortune-telling: My cholesterol is going to be sky-high.
• Comparison (comparing just one part of your performance or situation to another’s, which you don’t really know, so that it makes you appear in a negative light): All of my coworkers are happier than me.
• Catastrophizing (combination of fortune-telling and all-or-nothing thinking; blowing things out of proportion): This spot on my skin is probably skin cancer; I’ll be dead soon.
• Labeling: I’m just not a healthy person.
• Disqualifying the positive: I answered that well, but lucky guess.

In layman's languages,  bias is a tendency to lean in favor of or against a person, group, idea, or thing, usually in a way that is unfair. Biases are natural — they are a product of human nature — and they don’t simply exist in a vacuum or in our mind’s — they affect the way we make decisions and act.

In psychology, there are two main branches of biases: conscious and unconscious. Conscious bias, or explicit bias, is intentional — you are aware of your attitudes and the behaviors that result from them ...

Explicit bias can be good because it helps provide you with a sense of identity and can lead you to make good decisions (for example, being biased towards healthy foods).

However, these biases can often be dangerous when they take the form of conscious stereotyping.

On the other hand, unconscious bias  or cognitive bias, represents the set of biases that are unintentional — you are not aware of your attitudes and the behaviors that result from them ...

Cognitive bias is often a result of our brain’s attempt to simplify information processing — we receive roughly 11 million bits of information per second, but we can only process about 40 bits of information per second 

Therefore, we often rely on mental shortcuts (called heuristics) to help make sense of the world with relative speed. As such, these errors tend to arise from problems related to thinking: memory, attention, and other mental mistakes.

Some of major biases which affect our decision making are....

Confirmation Bias

Confirmation bias refers to the tendency to interpret new information as confirmation of your preexisting beliefs and opinions.

Various social media platforms, such as Facebook, help reinforce our confirmation bias by feeding us stories that we are likely to agree with – further pushing us down these echo chambers of political polarization.

Some examples of confirmation bias are especially harmful, specifically in the context of the law. For example, a detective may identify a suspect early in an investigation and then seek out confirming evidence and downplay falsifying evidence.

Hindsight Bias

Hindsight bias refers to the tendency to perceive past events as more predictable than they actually were 

When sports fans know the outcome of a game, they often question certain decisions coaches make that they otherwise would not have questioned or second guessed.

And fans are also quick to remark that they knew their team was going to win or lose, but, of course, they only make this statement after their team actually wins or lose

When surprising outcomes arise, our expectations are violated and we may experience negative reactions as a result. Thus, we rely on the hindsight bias to avoid these adverse responses to certain unanticipated events, and reassure ourselves that we actually did know what was going to happen.

Self-Serving Bias

It refers to the tendency to take personal responsibility for positive outcomes and blame external factors for negative outcomes.

The distinction is that the self-serving bias is concerned with valence. That is, how good or bad an event or situation is. And it is also only concerned with events for which you are the actor.

In other words, if a driver cuts in front of you as the light turns green, the fundamental attribution error might cause you to think that they are a bad person and not consider the possibility that they were late for work.

On the other hand, the self-serving bias is exercised when you are the actor. In this example, you would be the driver cutting in front of the other car, which you would tell yourself is because you are late (an external attribution to a negative event) as opposed to it being because you are a bad person.

You all must hsve obsrerved, If one gets a job it's  because of his/her talent but if not then its because of prejudice/corruption by organization. ..

And in the office itself, workplace conflicts are given external attributions and successes, whether it be a persuasive presentation or a promotion, are awarded internal explanations ..

Preventing Cognitive Bias

As we know, recognizing these biases is the first step to overcoming them. But there are small strategies we can follow in order to train our unconscious mind to think in different ways n make correct decisions by

 acknowledging the limitations of memory,

 seeking perspective while making decisions,

being able to self-critique, and

choosing strategies to prevent cognitive error.

TIME...SAMAY...A REALITY ...OR ILLUSION

वक़्त से दिन और रात
वक़्त से कल और आज
वक़्त की हर शै गुलाम
वक़्त का हर शै पे राज

A phase came in my life where i got trapped in time ...and used to think i will never came out of it..it was a time which seemed as it will never get over...feeling life is dwindling

Another phase has again come wherein i feel time is running too fast...two years have passed and it looks like it is only two months ...feels energetic full of life

Psychological time is the reason that we lose the present moment and get trapped with so called PROBLEM. 

I realized that often there is really nothing to do at this very moment, so it is not useful to even think about the problem... Of course I’m not talking about ignoring a situation or not thinking to find a solution to a challenge. I’m talking about the unnecessary time we spend thinking a situation over and over and can’t let go of it. The first is in the realm of clock time, the later in the realm of psychological time.

Psychological time spent is in the memories of past or in the projection of the future which is required to be reduced to miminum. It takes some practice and the willingness to stay in the present moment, but it enables us to dissolve a lot of so-called problems that only become such if we dwell on them.

Our daily life is full of time. We are surrounded by time from getting up in the morning until checking the alarm clock in the evening. At work there are appointments and pressing deadlines.

But most of time we are physically present but mentally absent... 

.By splitting our mental attention in such a way there is always the possiblity to get stuck in time. Then we take our attention away from the present moment and we lose ourselves by thinking in time.

But being fully in the present moment  The Now...... is the key to spiritual awakening, or to say the least, to live a happier and more liberated life. So how can we balance the fact that we have to use time so often and also stay more present?

The Use of Clock Time

Any use of clock time for practical and useful purposes is absolutely necessary and helpful. This includes nearly all activities that need time as appointments, schedules etc. Even goals with a deadline are in the area of clock time. If we look at it closely, if we want to create something to until certain date, we set a deadline so that everything we do will be ready then. We create a plan to meet the deadline and then execute it. Maybe we have to rearrange the deadline, but the use of time here is no problem. This means, we can be fully present – have our attention in the present moment – by doing this.

What is Psychological Time?

On the contrary psychological time is something very different. It always occurs if we dwell on a situation mentally, then we drop out of the present moment. But when we start projecting ourselves constantly into the future (or past) and live there in the mind, we become unsatisfied with what is and dismiss the present moment. It becomes a means to the end and we want to be at the end.

What happens if we are in Psychological Time

If we create this psychological time, we get trapped in our mind. It happens that we create a problem out of a situation and the mind won’t let go of it. This is really not a small thing, it happens constantly. For instance if you watch the news and you see something terrible, did it happen to you that you could not let go of it for several minutes or even hours? It burdens you, although there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. Funny enough there are a lot of very pleasant things going on right now, but the news showed exactly the very bad thing and the mind could get trapped in it.
Now this scenario may not happen to you if you have a certain control over your mind, but let’s shift to a more personal situation, maybe you could lose money, your job or even a person. Now it is much harder to stay present and not to lose yourself in the problem and thinking constantly over it.

 There is never a reason to dwell on the situation and by that create a problem in our mind. Often there is really nothing to do at this very moment, so it is not useful to even think about the problem...

 Of course I’m not talking about ignoring a situation or not thinking to find a solution to a challenge. I’m talking about the unnecessary time we spend thinking a situation over and over and can’t let go of it. The first is in the realm of clock time, the later in the realm of psychological time.

The key is to use Clock Time AND to stay present

If we become able to see a situation not as a problem but as something that comes to the present moment and will be handled (only) then, we also become able to stay present. By setting goals and fulfilling own visions we still are able to create the environment we desire. But even then there is no reason to leave the present moment with our mind. The key here is to see our vision in the present moment.

The future always depends on the quality of our present moment. The present moment is of quality if we are fully present.

So from my point of view it is totally achievable and advisable to reduce the amount of such psychological time, where we are in the memories of past or in the projection of the future, to a minimum. It takes some practice and the willingness to stay in the present moment, but it enables us to dissolve a lot of so-called problems that only become such if we dwell on them.

The butterfly counts not months but moments,
and has time enough.

ART OF PERSUASION

I always wanted to invite

Olympic Medalist Chanu Saikhom Mirabai...

to our campus..BUT she being persuaded by whole world.. Presently ..my chances were miniscule... But Thanx to being a student of psychology I was honoured by her presence in our campus...

Why are some people able to persuade better than others?  Why your spouse advises you to drink slowly in a party or when a friend asks you to set her/him up, the message source (spouse/friend) are trying to get you to do something.

Persuasion can be a difficult task. Convincing a person, or a group of people, to comply with a request, or to agree with you on a particular viewpoint, can be a formidable challenge. 

There are various techniques and some of the most used ones are.... 

Foot-in-the-Door Technique

Foot-in-the-door: start with a small request and build to a larger request.

You ask your user for something small first that they will most likely say yes to, then ask for something larger (the actual action you want them to take) at a later time. 

A politician might ask people in attendance at a rally to wear a pin to promote his campaign. Later, he might ask them for a campaign donation. 

A group of women may agree to a short health survey, and later agree to breast cancer screening. 

A group of website visitors may agree to give used clothes to a disaster relief charity, and later be asked for money. 

Door in the Face

You ask someone for something big that they will most likely say “No” to, followed by a smaller, more reasonable request (the actual action you want them to take). Guilt and self-presentation help explain why this is effective: The other person has already said “No” once, and won’t want to say “No” twice.

For example, say shruti wants to go for a film in the evening and she’ll be home by 9 pm. She knows that her parents won’t like her staying out so late. So she asks her parents whether she can be home by 12 am which is immediately refused. She then follows that up by requesting for a 9 pm slot and is granted... 

The beauty of this phenomenon is seen in the fact that the persuader’s intention is to get the second request fulfilled all along, but because the other person will refuse it on the spot if presented as is, he/she adds a ridiculously improbable request. As anticipated, the request is refused and when the second request is made, it is granted much more easily, thus the persuader gets what he/she had wanted all along.

Disrupt then Reframe

You ask your user for something in a confusing or strange way the first time around. You immediately follow-up by re-framing your request or giving your user a reason to say “Yes”.

Example: Recently went to MAX store with vidula  ... While making payment the biling clerk was persuading customers by saying that if you make purchases worth Rs 2500 you will get rs 500 worth free coupon which can be utilized after one week...I was amazed that except for one customer 7 ppl initially tried to reason but later fell for trap..without reading fine lines..

Dump and Chase

You ask for something and your friend says “No”. You respond by asking “Why not?”, repeating your request in a slightly different way. Urgency and guilt are at play here: You’ve created a sense of obligation by asking “Why not” and the repetition of your request can make it seem more important, more urgent.

Example: Your friend may refuse to go on date with you. That’s where social media...calls...n physical interaction come into play. Repeated offer in form of persuasion will help to stem away the concern of your friend n prompt her/him to agree for date....

There are so many persuasion techniques but the game is always about first understanding oneself capabilities n then exploring it vis a vis the person whom you are trying to influence...

Its a game which we all play day in and out...so enjoy it

𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰 𝚃𝙾𝙾𝙻 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚁𝚈

IMPHAL DIARIES

𝙵𝙾𝚁𝙶𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙰 𝚃𝙾𝙾𝙻 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙼𝙴𝙼𝙾𝚁𝙸𝙴𝚂

Have you ever felt that you know the person but can't remember her/him..or we r not able to recollect an episode of life ...while our friends recall about it as it happened yesterday ....or people meet n say hi to you but you r not able to even place them in your life...

Generally people around us takes a very positive view of memories and the act of remembering: we esteem the study of history, we are expected to take photos to capture precious moments; we think that old injustices should be made good in the present; we promise not to forget old acquaintances ...when we r leaving school ...colleges..etc

But without denying the value of any of this,  we  need to do something else: forget. 

Certain memories threaten to destroy the very existence of an individual – although it's bit extreme but certain memories r bad for present or future living...

If we held onto everything that had ever happened to us in all the multicolour vividness of the original event, we’d be overburdened with anxiety and sadness, we’d be continuously terrified and consumed with regret: we’d be driven to despair by all the meanness we’d encountered, all the stupidity we’d been guilty of and all the beauty and goodness we had lost. 

𝙏𝙤 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙖 𝙥𝙤𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨

We should remember only in so far as it actually helps us to live in the present. To the extent that memories assist us in forming our plans and avoiding error, they are valuable, but when memories function as obstacles to better lives, we should put our energies into the business of forgetting.

The best way to forget is not just time, but – more exactly – events. So as to separate ourselves from the things that haunt us, we have to ensure that we can lay down a dense layer of events between us and they; we need – in short – to make stuff happen.

This is particularly true after a  breakup, when certain places, times of day and activities remain tightly linked to the past and constantly evoke it painfully:

– Whenever we see the old tea add 

..some building etc we are carried back to memories of cosy days n evenings spent there together.

– Riding our bike down the open roads triggers thoughts of energising trips we made there on balmy days.

– The cushions on the sofa jab us with pain by reminding us of the way they’d use them when reading at night.

We’re surrounded by emotional tripwires. Our heart breaks again and again.

We cannot, as we might at points want, get rid of the world in which the relationship once played itself out. We can’t burn the cushions or uproot the restaurant. To forget, we have to impose a new layer of experience on the things we associate with lost love. We should take a new group of friends to the restaurant, sit at side of the road  or get fresh acquaintances to hang out with us on the sofa. We have to reclaim the material of our life from our experiences. 

With a new commitment to forgetting, we should recover some of the hope of the child and the fortitude of an animal.....hope not to forget the memories seen in these photos...

𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐔𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏.....𝐅𝐔𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘'𝐒 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏

Has Virtual Relationship  Transcended the Boundary of Real Rêlå†ïðñ§hïþ

Ä ßɎGÖñÈ ÈRÄ

𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐬 💐 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝚜 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 .. .to finding out the difference between best 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 👭👬 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬..... 

..to selecting cards at Archie's shop... 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 I like you ..to love you....n finally the first 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜....

....these are some of shared memories of a teenager🔞🧒....still we all cherish 𝕚𝕥 𝕒𝕤 𝕥𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕦𝕣𝕖𝕕 𝕞𝕖𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕤 𝕖𝕧𝕖𝕟 𝕚𝕗 doesn't matter to us anymore as adults..... 

𝕍𝕀ℝ𝕋𝕌𝔸𝕃 ℝ𝔼𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝕊ℍ𝕀ℙ... 𝔸 ℕ𝔼𝕎 𝔼ℝ𝔸

So does having virtual relationship stops or enhance creating shared memories

You like someone but don't have time so one continues relationship via virtual world....🅸🆂 🅸🆃 🆁🅴🅰🅻

We 🅰🅻🅻 nowaday whatsapp—a lot....even wishing birthday n anniversary are through text n smileys ... is it able to convey the emotion ...

 Many  people...are now experiencing their “romantic” relationship on their phones. 

People begin texting each other intimately and voraciously often before they are even friends, texting things to each other that they would never (ever) say in person. Having a real life relationship with your friend is no longer a prerequisite for having a virtual relationship with him/her. ....

Being part of a couple nowadays also doesn’t mean that you do anything in the world together, like go for ice cream or see a movie as it used to be understood earlier... The secrecy n trust of relationship is maintaneable  far better then real relationship... 

On their own, texting relationships might not seem like a big deal, but the challenges that they create is indeed a big deal. Virtual relationships is taking over real relationships (with new set of skills for wooing and maintaining relationship).  The intimacy of the texting relationship may not be real intimacy, but still it gives a sense of equivalent gratification if not more.  

The virtual romance happens at a pace and rhythm and with a hipness and ease that real life romance can't have..... 

Adult relationships are also getting caught in the chasm between virtual and actual reality. After a first or second interaction, it is common for people to begin texting with a frequency, casualness, and intimacy that is at higher level of the relationship; they share their thoughts, feelings, and everyday experiences as if communicating with a best friend or maybe more accurately, a part of themselves. They share their lives, as well, without the discomfort or effort that a phone call or in person exchange might require. 

This   intimacy  leads to the possibility of the relationship blossoming into something more real as the connection gets real....but here  is a catch ......it can get waylaid in a kind of texting purgatory: a fast-paced, uber cool and pseudo-sexy... 

𝚃𝙴𝚇𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙸𝚂 𝙱𝙴𝙲𝙾𝙼𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝚂𝚃 𝙻𝙰𝙽𝙶𝚄𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙾𝙵 𝙽𝙴𝚆 𝚁𝙴𝙻𝙰𝚃𝙸𝙾𝙽𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙿

It’s also not just romantic relationships that are being transformed but even in friendships, even those that are long-term, texting allows for a creative, exciting and newfound conversational dance, a verve that is often not possible in the face to face familiarity.  So too, texting feels easier and less stressful than real life relating; the conversation pauses or ends when we want it to and can happen in bite size, manageable chunks, with no awkward silences.  Texting relationships feel in our control while real relationships often are not in control.....................................................

𝐖𝐄 𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐄 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐖𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝕍𝕀ℝ𝕋𝕌𝔸𝕃 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐋 ℝ𝔼𝕃𝔸𝕋𝕀𝕆ℕ𝕊ℍ𝕀ℙ

One can’t be as fabulous in person as his/her text messages...and our friends can’t be as fabulous either, which means that the whole real life relating experience can become a kind of mixed emotion.... but at least new connections are bring made

I wonder, will the gap between our virtual and real life relationships grow so wide that we will opt to give up real life relationships altogether. Will there come a time when we no longer even pretend to want or need face to face interaction?  With the help of  technology, will future generations consider romance and courtship to be activities that happen entirely inside their devices?   

Virtual relationships may feel sexier, easier, cooler,  more pleasurable. ....but it also help in creating the shared memories.like real relationship minus physical intimacy... 

Although some may argue that it remains as textual memory kept in some cloud of WhatsApp or Google..

In conclusion, it is still  better then nothing and a substitute of real relationship as you can connect to people for longer period in some real time .... 

VIRTUAL RELATIONSHIP

Every chime of the pop up messsge,
he sees her affection
through emojis turning

 into real emotions

His  heart beats so fast
to the ringtone of his high-tech gizmo
That every keypad pressed
are thousand sweet words expressed

The distance won't keep them apart,
signals will bridge their undying love
because, as long as we have these  electronic gadgets

The love will always REMAIN IN AIR

𝗦𝗘𝗟𝗙 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗦 𝗔 𝗩𝗜𝗦 𝗖𝗢𝗚𝗡𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗦

Vidula my wife 👰 keeps on saying nowadays that she is putting on weight although she is perfectly physically fit or to say much fitter then earlier .This thought led me to recollect my psychology days about cognitive distortions and how it makes our self Image. I have seen what ever we start thinking about ourselves we actually start becoming. 

So this leads to the concept 𝚘𝚏 

𝚁𝚎𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐..

These are negative thought patterns that keep on coming again and again in our minds.... It  represent an ongoing attempt to come up with insight or solutions to problems we are concerned about. These unhelpful filters make whatever life circumstances we find ourselves in that much more anxiety-provoking and challenging.

What are unhelpful cognitive distortions?

The main cognitive distortions are as follows (and some of them overlap):

• Black-and-white (or all-or-nothing) Thinking I never have anything interesting to say.
• Jumping to conclusions (or mind-reading)The doctor is going to tell me I have cancer.
• Personalization Our team lost because of me.
• Should-ing and must-ing (using language that is self-critical that puts a lot of pressure on you): I should be losing weight.
• Mental filter (focusing on the negative, such as the one aspect of a health change which you didn’t do well): I am terrible at getting enough sleep.
• Overgeneralization: I’ll never find a partner.
• Magnification and minimization (magnifying the negative, minimizing the positive): It was just one healthy meal.
• Fortune-telling: My cholesterol is going to be sky-high.
• Comparison (comparing just one part of your performance or situation to another’s, which you don’t really know, so that it makes you appear in a negative light): All of my coworkers are happier than me.
• Catastrophizing (combination of fortune-telling and all-or-nothing thinking; blowing things out of proportion): This spot on my skin is probably skin cancer; I’ll be dead soon.
• Labeling: I’m just not a healthy person.
• Disqualifying the positive: I answered that well, but it was a lucky guess. 
• 

  
  
  
  

𝙀𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡  𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜

Many of us engage in emotional reasoning, a process in which our negative feelings about ourselves inform our thoughts, as if they were factually based,; in the absence of any facts to support these unpleasant feelings.

 In other words, your emotions and feelings about a situation become your actual view of the situation, regardless of any information to the contrary. Emotional reasoning often employs many of the other cognitive filters to sustain it, such as catastrophizing and disqualifying the positive. Examples of this may be thinking:

• I look fat even though you are perfectly fit 

• I’m an awful student, even if you are getting some good grades
• My partner is cheating on me, even if there is no evidence for this (jealousy is defining your reality)
• Nobody likes me, even if you have friends (loneliness informs your thinking).

• How do you challenge and change cognitive distortion

•  I’ve learned to remind myself that whatever comes up, I’ll deal with it as well as I can. I try to trust my future self to cope, in an effective way, with whatever life will throw my way. 

  As an example, if you are driving on a highway some or other vehicle will go ahead of your vehicle, they are just cutting off a random car, not you, because they have no idea who you are. So there’s no reason to take it personally. To personalize situations like this just makes you upset. If you don’t take it personally, it changes it from "idiot cut me off" to "people should drive more safely."

• As they say in the new movie  Dune, "fear is the mind-killer." Being anxious or afraid certainly makes me less effective, no matter what I’m trying to accomplish.