Contents
Rational thinking is thinking that has a clear logic and goes to the goal. The opposite of irrational, and sometimes just incoherent thinking, the flow of thoughts outside of logic and purpose.
The process of such irrational thinking is often called feeling. If the girl thought, something seemed to her, and although she does not see clear logic in her reasoning, he can say «I feel.» It is especially common when a person wants to believe in his impressions. Moreover, if her impression pleased her or frightened her — there is definitely a feeling. But unfinished thinking, fuzzy, incomplete thought process — is this a feeling?
Rational thinking is a cognitive, not an affective process
Rationality of thinking is rather a direction, a way of thinking, and not a characteristic of its effectiveness. It is not so important how much rationality was realized in a particular act of thinking (for example) — maybe in a clearly insufficient form, but what is important is that the direction of rational, if possible conceptual and preferably logical thinking was initially chosen.
It was possible to slip into feelings and impressions, but the man turned on his head and began to think.
The word “rational” is important here, as that which is reasonable and logical, which is different from the bodily, emotional and sensual. This is competence and knowledge, skills and abilities, and not feelings and premonitions, desires and impulses, impressions and experiences. See →
Irrational thinking — thinking without logic and control
Irrational thinking usually occurs at deeper levels of a person’s inner world. See →
A. Beck, the founder of cognitive psychology, conventionally divided the entire process of human thinking into three levels. First, he singled out arbitrary thoughts: the most superficial, easily realized and controlled. Second, automatic thoughts. As a rule, these are stereotypes imposed on us in the process of growing up and upbringing. And thirdly, basic schemas and cognitive beliefs, that is, the deep level of thinking that occurs in the area of the unconscious, which is the most difficult to change. A person perceives all incoming information at one of these levels (or at all at once), analyzes, draws conclusions and builds his behavior on their basis.
Beck called unconstructive thoughts cognitive errors. These include, for example, distorted conclusions that clearly do not reflect reality, as well as exaggeration or understatement of the significance of certain events, personalization (when a person ascribes to himself the significance of events to which, by and large, he has nothing to do) and overgeneralization (on based on one small failure, a person makes a global conclusion for life).
What to do with irrational thinking?
All these examples of irrational thinking are the field of activity for a psychologist working in the cognitive tradition. Using various techniques, he instills in the client the ability to perceive information adequately, constructively and expediently. As a rule, this is one or another version of positive thinking.