Don’t Believe Everything You Think.
Rene’ Descartes the 17th century philosopher, in his famous quote stated, “I think therefore I am.” I am not sure what Descartes meant, but perhaps he meant, in thinking we become ourselves.
Our thinking brain is truly a miracle of uncanny brilliance. From current time into the distant past, humans have used their brains to solve untold mysteries of our natural world. Our brains have developed, discovered, built, and created civilization. As I type this post, NASA is planning to send humans to Mars by the 2030’s; Space-X apparently has a similar goal; new medical treatments for diseases are being developed and tested; the list is endless.
Does that mean that everything we think is correct? No, the greatest minds of centuries past made thinking errors.
And yet, we habitually believe ourselves.
When we are born, we bring along our genetic heritage. Our inherited gene pool is complex and difficult to decipher. New information is gathered every day about how our genes translate into who we are. After conception and birth, the environment constantly shapes and possibly mutates who we become. Not only our physical self but our mental and emotional selves are shaped and changed by environmental factors.
Understanding how our genes and environment develop and shape our cognition (thought), and how the reverse is also true, has become a major focus of research.
The actual study of cognition, has grown in leaps and bounds in the past 40+ years. How we think, why we think what we do, how our thinking changes, and so on is being researched and studied in universities, marketing firms, and our government to name a few.
Cognition is a hot topic in today’s scientific world.
Why is the study of cognition important?
With the growing role of psychotherapy and counseling, strategies are sought to better treat mental and behavioral health issues.
From the research of cognition, came Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT). CBT was developed, refined, and adapted as a treatment tool in the past 30+ years. The idea of helping people understand how their thinking can deeply affect their world has been a boon to us all.
Many issues people face every day; anxiety, depression, stress, physical pain, insomnia, and more; can be improved by knowing what we think and changing it if need be. In CBT treatment, this is called self-talk. It seems to be a human habit, to believe what we think and feel. For example, when we become fearful we tend to believe there may be something in the environment that is dangerous. Often times that is not the case.
Humans have a well-developed fight-flight-freeze response, this response alerts us to potential danger. Even in countries where safety is fairly high, where no wild animals or tribes from the next village are waiting to ambush, humans still respond to their feelings of fear as a danger to their personal safety. We begin to experience panic attacks, chronic worry, and insomnia due to our thinking and fear response. Apprehension and anticipatory anxiety take hold.
What can we do about our thinking?
Humans are unique in that we are capable of observing ourselves. We are capable of being aware of what we are thinking, noticing it, and recording it. So, the first step is to notice a thought and write it down.
Soon the brain learns we want to know what our thoughts are, and we get better at noticing. At first it’s hard, but like all new behaviors it gets easier fast.
Feelings of sadness, loss, and low self-worth are symptoms of depression. These overwhelming feelings are difficult to change, and they feel global seeming to take over our entire life. Soon these intense feelings begin to shape our perspective. Even if our work life is positive, depression can override that feeling with negativity.
Chronic worry plagues many people. Worry is something we all do at various times, but chronic worry takes up hours of time better spent working, enjoying people, and being creative. Sometimes we begin to believe that worry is useful. Thinking if we worry enough we will figure out a way to avoid whatever calamity we fear is coming. The problem with this idea is that worry is circular; it just keeps coming back to the beginning over and over again.
Finding a solution takes thought, research, checking with knowledgeable others, and then choosing the best possible solution. From a solution a plan for moving forward develops. Worry is nothing but worry.
If you believe everything or most of what you think, take a critical look, and decide how accurate your thoughts are.