Thinking it doesn't make it true

Let's talk about bias

Hello, Lovely Soul Drop!!

As Victor Van Dort would say, things haven’t gone according to plan exactly. I wanted to write four posts here this month on Sundays…this is the second post and today isn’t Sunday. However, I’m glad with my present moment. I have been working on mental traps or cognitive biases in therapy, and it’s truly life-changing. We are constantly coming up with rules and ideas of how the world works, who we are, and how we should act, that aren’t based on reality or facts. Thinking something doesn’t make it true. You might think you are a loser, or that someone hates you, or that the world is cruel, and it doesn’t make it necessarily true. It could be, but it could also be false.

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

These biases affect everyone and I think we should learn about them along with the other biases we might have when processing data from the world. I was told by someone “How would you feel if you told someone they had the music too loud and they told you it’s your perception?” Trying to make a comparison on how you can feel offended and being told it’s just your perception isn’t helpful. They didn’t know I suffer from hypersensitivity so I probably hear the music too loud when it isn’t, and that has helped me understand that my feeling a certain way doesn’t make me right or that whatever I’m feeling is true.

I’m not asking you to doubt everything and anything 24/7 though! As usual, we need a middle ground. We have to learn how to pinpoint biases and understand our brains are easily fooled, but at the same time, we can’t navigate the world in a permanent existential crisis where we don’t even know who we are or what life is. I have strong stances and opinions; I have my chore values that probably won’t shift. That’s all right! I just know that I might be wrong and if I find data that contradicts what I already know then I can change my stances.

If we learn more about how the mind works and how we work as individuals, then we will be able to find our way more easily. I know who I am, and at the same time, I know I’m changing and growing. The beliefs I have might be wrong, but they are analyzed and I know why I think the way I do, and when I don’t, I continue to research. Imagine if everyone did this! We would have fewer brainwashed people and fewer people who parrot points and slogans without knowing why they are doing it. I’m far from perfect, but this is one thing I’m happy to be doing.

Thank you so much for reading!