Different kinds of cognitive distortions, and examples.
A person eats a tomato, is surprised to find it delicious, and tweets to record his feelings.
First, black or white: all or nothing/polarized thinking
A commented: “You just said tomatoes, how come you didn’t say spinach? The spinach is a good choice for you? Spinach is also very good!”
(Just because the person says he ate a good tomato doesn’t mean he only likes tomatoes and not spinach or other vegetables. The idea that by liking this one tomato he is denying all other vegetables is called “black or white” extreme thinking. (In fact, it is entirely possible that this person likes both tomatoes and spinach or other vegetables.
Second, overgeneralization
B comments, “Just because you like this one tomato, it must mean that you just like tomatoes, eat tomatoes every day for a living, and will eat only tomatoes for the rest of your life!”
(Just because the person says he thinks this one tomato is good doesn’t mean he thinks all tomatoes are good, and it doesn’t even necessarily mean he likes tomatoes. Using a single individual event to infer/generalize about the overall trend of things is a cognitive distortion of overgeneralization.)
Third/fourth, jumping to conclusions: jumping to conclusions and labeling: labeling
C commented: “Like tomatoes? You’re a vegetarian!”
(Jumping immediately and arbitrarily to a conclusion that is not supported by facts based on one thing is the cognitive distortion of jumping to conclusions. The fact that the person likes this one tomato doesn’t make him a vegetarian at all. To put a name directly on it is labeling thinking. (For example, a person who makes one mistake thinks he is a total “loser”.
Fifth, mind reading: mind reading
D commented: “You like tomatoes? Are you telling people we shouldn’t eat meat in disguise?”
(Just because the person says they had a good tomato doesn’t mean the person is telling everyone they shouldn’t eat meat. You interpret the other person inside yourself as if you know exactly what the other person is thinking, without checking the facts by examining them, and then take your own brain’s imagination of the other person as fact, which is the cognitive distortion of mind reading.)
Sixth, naturalization: personalization
E doesn’t like tomatoes. After seeing this person’s Weibo, E commented, “You know I don’t like tomatoes, but you sent such a Weibo post, you are deliberately angry with me, right? You don’t like me, do you? What did I do to you?”
(The unfounded belief that things happen because of oneself is a self-centered cognitive distortion that can easily lead to anger, guilt, resentment, etc.)
Seventh, the “should” statement: should statement
F commented: “Your Weibo should write something else, what is there to write about if not tomatoes? Take it off!”
(Imposing your own expectations on others about what should and shouldn’t happen is the source of many disappointments, losses, and resentments. When your expectations of others are not fulfilled, you feel that he is wrong and you yourself are right; when your expectations of yourself are not fulfilled, you feel that you are a failure.)
Eighth, catastrophic thinking: catastrophizing
G commented, “Oh my God, you like tomatoes? Will you only eat tomatoes from now on and never eat anything else? Will you even stop drinking water and drink tomato juice instead? Will you die of malnutrition?”
(Jumping straight to the worst possible scenario because one thing happens is catastrophic thinking. For example, if you fail a job interview, you think you’ll never get a job in your life; if a relationship fails, you think you’ll end up alone for the rest of your life.)
Remember what Cai Kang Yong said before: being misunderstood is the destiny of writers. Many times these misunderstandings come from the above (or other kinds of) cognitive distortions. This is true for writers as well as for others. It’s true on Twitter, and it’s true in real life.
And what’s the real truth?
The real truth is that this guy ate a tomato, he thought it was good, and he recorded how he really felt in the moment. That’s all. We can’t infer anything else from this, and there is no need to infer anything else.
The core concept of positive thinking is the same.
Take it as it is, no more, no less.
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