NOur mind is a kind of organic super computer; That is, a powerful information processor in which multiple processes operate simultaneously. Some of them are “visible” in our consciousness, while many others happen automatically without us realizing it. For example, while I think about what to write in this note, there is a part of my mind that – without me knowing it – is coordinating syntactic, semantic and morphological principles so that I can convey my ideas in a coherent way. When we forget a name, even though we can consciously abandon the search for that memory and entertain ourselves with something else, our mind continues searching for it without our conscious intervention and, if it manages to find the lost data, it makes it appear in consciousness as if by magic. Also, if you pay attention to the functioning of your mind at this moment, you may notice that while your attention is focused on reading this text, another part of your mind is continually evaluating the experience and drawing conclusions. For example, it can trigger thoughts about how boring or interesting what you are reading is, it can distract you momentarily by reminding you of pending matters or worries, etc. It is because of all this that we can say that our mind has a kind of autopilot that generates thoughts that guide our behaviors.
If we do not pay attention to it, this automatic, parallel mental functioning can go completely unnoticed and generate thoughts and conclusions regarding our experiences that escape our critical judgment. The problem is that, just as computers often crash and crash, our minds also often generate inaccurate or biased automatic evaluations of reality. This is mainly because this automatic operation works especially well in life or death situations, like the ones we used to face when we lived in the jungle. That is, its function was to allow us to anticipate danger through the use of mental shortcuts, and react very quickly to potential threats from predators. However, moving to the concrete jungle, we rarely find ourselves in life or death situations, and uncertainty reigns supreme. Therefore, our mental shortcuts often turn out to be imprecise or even counterproductive in this new context. After all, we change our way of life; but no, our biology.
What is a “mental shortcut”?
Mental shortcuts are automatic habits of thought (assumptions, inferences, hypotheses, etc.) that are triggered in our minds when we interpret our daily experiences and model them. Its function is to make sense of our experience and to anticipate future events quickly. Given their usual imprecision, when we take them tacitly, that is, as evidence in themselves (“just because I think it like that, it means that it is like that”), they can lead us to incorrect and/or biased interpretations of the facts, which They hinder our ability to make decisions effectively and achieve our goals.
Our minds also often generate inaccurate or biased automatic evaluations of reality.
It is important to note that, although autopilot tends to make mistakes, on rare occasions our mental shortcuts are completely wrong. Rather, most of the time, they are partially correct. However, as our emotions often play a key role in our survival, the more intense our emotional state, the more extreme and rigid our mental shortcuts may be, limiting our behavioral repertoire to attacking or fleeing impulsively (“hot” mental functioning). . For this reason, the greater the probability and degree to which our autopilot will make mistakes in these circumstances. This phenomenon is comparable to a computer that begins to fail more and more as it overheats. It is also similar to piloting an airplane in unstable weather conditions: It is often more effective to momentarily disengage the autopilot and take the helm, since the autopilot programming is too schematic for effective decision-making in uncertain scenarios. Once the storm has passed and the weather has stabilized, it is more efficient to reactivate the autopilot, so you can rest and recover energy. This is why, in uncertain and/or emotional circumstances, it is useful to review our mental shortcuts.
Strategies to identify, make flexible and deactivate the mental shortcuts of our mind
So, when you are in an uncertain situation that you don’t know how to deal with or when you feel some negative emotion triggering inside you (sadness, anger, shame, jealousy, envy, disgust, fear or anxiety), it is an excellent opportunity to put Try one of the following strategies:
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1. Identify the mental shortcut:
A fundamental first step to review the activity of our autopilot is to identify which mental shortcut or shortcuts are present at that moment. Thanks to the researchers in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, this is very easy since they defined and classified the typical shortcuts that people usually have. Below, you can see a list with the definition and examples of each type of mental shortcut separately, although keep in mind that we often combine them:
Is my interpretation of this situation in the form of any of the typical mental shortcuts?
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Dichotomous thinking: Interpret reality in “black or white” categories (“good or bad”, “success or failure”, etc.). For example, if all aspects of an activity don’t go well at first or if my performance is not perfect, you interpret the situation as a total failure.
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Fortune telling: Based on some past experience or my imagination, I assume that I know what is going to happen without needing to check it, as if I had clairvoyance or a crystal ball. For example, “I’m not going to be able to do it; I know it’s not going to work out for me.”
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Catastrophic thoughts (or “Catastrophizing”): I attribute extreme and horrible consequences to the results of events. For example, “If I do poorly on an exam, it means that I will be a failure in my professional career and that I will end up unemployed.”
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Arbitrary inference: We connect unconnected facts based on arbitrary rules that we hold uncritically. For example, “Since it is cloudy today, things are going to be bad for me,” superstitious beliefs in general, etc.
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Emotional reasoning: You assume that your negative or positive emotions necessarily reflect how things really are (“I feel this way, so it must be this way”). For example, “Because I feel that way; “I am very intuitive.” Another variant of this thought is the thought as a result of my emotional state (“If I am nervous it means that I am not well prepared for the exam”).
The more intense our emotional state, the more extreme and rigid our mental shortcuts may be.
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Minimize or disqualify the positive: I dismiss positive experiences by insisting that they “don’t count” for some reason outside of my control, or I exaggeratedly reduce their importance. In this way, I can maintain a negative belief even though my daily experiences contradict it. For example, “They only promoted me because they didn’t have anyone else to fill the position and because, even though I keep screwing up, it would be very expensive for them to fire me”; “I passed because I was lucky, by chance, or because the teacher liked me”; etc
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Selective perception or mental filter: I select an isolated negative event and obsess over it exclusively, ignoring other positive aspects of the situation/problem. Generally, it involves seeing only that which is congruent with our beliefs. For example, paying attention and only recording when things go wrong leads me to confirm my belief that “I am incapable.”
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Mind reading: Arbitrarily concluding that someone is reacting negatively to you, without attempting to check or confirm this. For example, “I know what you’re thinking,” “You should have realized what’s happening to me,” “The teacher doesn’t like me and wants to throw me out,” “It’s obvious he did it on purpose because he doesn’t like me.” , etc. It can include projecting my own vision of things onto the other (“If I think my performance was terrible, then others are going to think it was terrible”).
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Customization or self-reference: It involves assuming that what happens is necessarily directed toward me, has to do with me, or taking responsibility for events that were not caused by me or were beyond my control. You can also address other people. For example, “If someone is angry in the group, surely he is angry with me.”
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Lettering: Extreme form of overgeneralization, in which instead of describing a mistake, I attach a global label to myself or others (behavior defines identity). For example, “Anyone who does poorly on an exam is an idiot.”)
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Imperative demands: Expressions with “I must”, “must”, “I have” or “have” in which I hold a precise and rigid idea regarding how I or others should behave, and I assume serious implications or negative consequences when failure to meet that expectation. We usually use these phrases to motivate ourselves; However, even with that end, it is as if we were punishing ourselves before starting to do something (we are already starting to fail because we are not doing what we “have” to do…). When imperative demands are directed at other people, they make us feel anger, frustration, and resentment. Examples are, “I should have realized sooner,” “I have to be able to do it,” “I should get off easy,” “You should have realized it was bothering me,” etc.
2. Questions to challenge mental shortcuts:
Another very useful strategy is to challenge our mental shortcuts by asking ourselves some of the following questions (not all of them are useful for all situations):
3. Practice identifying and challenging other people’s mental shortcuts:
It is always easier to record the behaviors and things that others say, since they are directly observable to us. On the other hand, our own mental habits are abstract activities to which we are so accustomed that it is difficult to perceive them (that is why it is so easy to see the straw in another’s eye and no, the trunk in front of ours). It is precisely for this reason that when we want to change a behavior, the most effective thing is to turn to an instructor, coach or therapist who provides us with feedback as a mirror so that we can observe ourselves. This also applies…