Irrational thinking is an emotional thinking process where an individual fails to regard the tenets of reason and logic. Most decisions are therefore made on the basis of a particular emotion because the person does not have a chance to pay attention to logic and facts. ( Reeves, 2015). In most cases, irrational thinking can alter reality and work as a hurdle towards the success of an individual. A few years ago, I had lend one of my friends some money after explaining to me that they were broke and therefore needed to have some little cash to push them forward. The friend promised to pay me back as soon as he received his monthly wages. Unfortunately, the friend got fired midway for engaging in a gross misconduct and therefore was not paid. I was also running out of cash, and the due date when my friend was supposed to pay me had already come. I went to his house to ask for the money, but he gave me explanations about his dismissal.
I couldn't hear any of the excuses, and I firmly insisted that he give me my money because I had completely run out of cash and he was reneging on our deal. I picked a physical fight with him that resulted in injuries to both of us. My irrational thinking of this particular incident depicted certain pathological tendencies that are associated with irrational thinking. One is egocentric myopia, which is an innate tendency to think that within a narrow point of view. With regards to my situation, my reason was egocentric myopia, because my narrowed point of view was that my friend had to honor his deal without considering the factors at hand such as his dismissal and the fact that he was not paid. The second pathological tendency from my case is egocentric blindness which is the natural tendency to ignore facts and evidence that are in contradiction with our points of view. The fact in my situation was that my friend was unable to pay back his debt due to his unpaid dismissal. Another fact was that fighting was never going to give solutions to the problem at hand. Another fact that I disregarded was that the person needed ample time to repay back his debt.
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Another factor that played a role in my flawed thinking was egocentrism. It is described in psychology as the failure of an individual to disregard another person’s points of view. In my case, I did not want to take into account the fact that my friend was probably in a more tragic situation than I was. Even though he had defaulted on the payment, I would have had asked for his views regarding his plans of paying me back. Another perspective that could be given from my personal experience with my friend is the fact that the thinking was sociocentric. Sociocentrism, just like the others, is a biased and narrow kind of thinking that gives a group-centered kind of perspective. With regards to my experience, it could be regarded as a sociocentrism because I failed to appreciate the plight of those who are economically feeble.
Perhaps if I had applied the keys to sound decision making, I would have approached the problem more rationally. In making the most appropriate decision in the case described, certain steps would have helped. First, it is vital to recognize the decision that am going to make is important. Secondly, I should identify the alternatives. In my case, the alternatives could have been giving my friend more time or even deciding to help them get a new job that will make them ultimately pay me. The alternatives should be logically evaluated, and finally, I should employ self-discipline when acting upon the best alternative.
Reference
Reeves, J. W. (2015). Thinking about thinking: Studies in the background of some psychological approaches . Routledge.
