The Obsessive Compulsive Rational Thinking Pattern.

[STaR]

Let's analize a common Psychological disorder that we have in our modern Society: The Obsessive Compulsive Rational Thinking Pattern.

The Obsessive Compulsive Rational Thinking Pattern

We live in an Universe where most of it is unknown to us. We try to explain it rationally, but even our vocabulary is limited to our knowledge, as when we discover something "new", we have to name it and make it rationally discussable.

What our society nowdays is creating is people that can't let go ideas, as they base their entire life in their rational beliefs. When a Theory falls and other come we can see a huge majority of people against it and a little group of people in favor. That's because most of people are familiar with the old ideas.

That's the pattern of the scared child. It's a pattern of behaviour created by our need of a solid base to our reality. We nurture this base and defend it against other people, other beliefs. This reality is completly necessary to give a sense of comfort and peace of mind and spirit.

When you show to someone who has this pattern a new idea, they attack you in order to defend their reality. For if they lose it, they lose their peace, their comfort. The way they do this is by our modern society Obscessive Compulsive Rational Thinking. That's because in this way they can always "see what's around". They have a base that they can easily experience to their beliefs. That's the base of reason and rational thinking: Immediate proof.

Then, they get scared to explore the unknown. They don't give up on their ideas, as they are really comfortable with it.

We can see this pattern everywhere. People nowdays need to see to believe because they are afraid of being harmed. Where does this fear come from? It possibly comes from other patterns generated long time ago in their families and passed to each other. Another possibility is that it comes from our consumerist society, where material things are more important. It's a very common pattern in our society.

thoughts?

[MrWolf]

Let's analyse a common mode of thinking common to pseudoscientists, new agers, hippy UFO freaks and charlatans the world over: irrational, muddy thinking.

The "Hope Springs Eternal" irrational, muddy thinking pattern:

We live in a universe which is big and scary. A lot of stuff we don't know, and are only just starting to get a handle on thanks to a wonderful mode of thinking called the scientific method.

Our modern society contains people that have bravely dispensed with the superstitious beliefs of the past and embraced the scientific method as perhaps the only reliable method for gaining real knowledge. On the other hand, there are those who are afraid to look at reality. Instead, they prefer to live in a fantasy land, usually with themselves as the most important feature. They think humans are different from animals - special. They think (some) humans have mystical powers, or a direct line to God. It makes them feel important. It absolves them from taking responsibility for their own actions. It is a comfort to believe that there is nothing out there truly bigger than oneself.

Unfortunately, that is a delusion. It's the pattern of the scared child. It's a pattern of behaviour created by the human need to feel special and be loved. Thus, beliefs are defended even when repeatedly shown to have no rational basis. They are necessary (for these people) to give a sense of comfort and peace of mind.

When you show to someone who has this pattern a new idea, they attack you in order to defend their reality. For if they lose it, they lose their peace, their comfort. The way they do this in our modern society is by clinging to irrationality like a sailor cluching at the last beam of a sinking ship. They have a base that they can easily experience to their beliefs. The base is: Immediate absolute knowledge - you just know the truth from within - because you're convinced you're special.

These people are scared to face reality. They don't give up on their ideas, as they are really comfortable with them.

Unfortunately, we can see this pattern everywhere. People nowdays (as always) want to believe because they are afraid of being harmed. Where does this fear come from? It possibly comes from other patterns generated long time ago in their families and passed to each other as superstitions usually are.

The solution to this is education. We must educate our children to think critically and rationally about all ideas. They should demand evidence before an idea is accepted as fact. They should be taught to be wary of things which we as humans would so like to be true but which may not be.

[saved]

Let's analize a common Psychological disorder that we have in our modern Society: The Obsessive Compulsive Rational Thinking Pattern.

The Obsessive Compulsive Rational Thinking Pattern

We live in an Universe where most of it is unknown to us. We try to explain it rationally, but even our vocabulary is limited to our knowledge, as when we discover something "new", we have to name it and make it rationally discussable.

What our society nowdays is creating is people that can't let go ideas, as they base their entire life in their rational beliefs. When a Theory falls and other come we can see a huge majority of people against it and a little group of people in favor. That's because most of people are familiar with the old ideas.

That's the pattern of the scared child. It's a pattern of behaviour created by our need of a solid base to our reality. We nurture this base and defend it against other people, other beliefs. This reality is completly necessary to give a sense of comfort and peace of mind and spirit.

When you show to someone who has this pattern a new idea, they attack you in order to defend their reality. For if they lose it, they lose their peace, their comfort. The way they do this is by our modern society Obscessive Compulsive Rational Thinking. That's because in this way they can always "see what's around". They have a base that they can easily experience to their beliefs. That's the base of reason and rational thinking: Immediate proof.

Then, they get scared to explore the unknown. They don't give up on their ideas, as they are really comfortable with it.

We can see this pattern everywhere. People nowdays need to see to believe because they are afraid of being harmed. Where does this fear come from? It possibly comes from other patterns generated long time ago in their families and passed to each other. Another possibility is that it comes from our consumerist society, where material things are more important. It's a very common pattern in our society.

thoughts?

OMG, that is an excellent explanationm  and I noticed people with OCD are definitely not open to new ideas or new experiences.

[anaklio]

I noted your comment about our consumerist society. That is something which troubles me as well.

A new review by Pinquart et al. (2009) looked at the values of cancer patients. Patients with less materialistic values had a greater sense of purpose to their lives.

It seems to me that a greater sense of purpose would help you overcome the narrow thinking associated with OCRTP as you describe it.

Also I know that having a greater sense of purpose has helped me deal with the fear of aging.

[saved]

I noted your comment about our consumerist society. That is something which troubles me as well.

A new review by Pinquart et al. (2009) looked at the values of cancer patients. Patients with less materialistic values had a greater sense of purpose to their lives.

It seems to me that a greater sense of purpose would help you overcome the narrow thinking associated with OCRTP as you describe it.

Also I know that having a greater sense of purpose has helped me deal with the fear of aging.

Excellent!  I have noticed that people whose goal is strictly materialism, tend to be quite unhappy.   I have an old college roomate who has OCD and he is very materialistic. H was laid off 6 months ago and is getting really depressed and I told him: "you have a 400k home paid for and you have 300k in retirement funds. You have no debt, be happy". His reply was : You think small, there are people that go to the gym I go to that have 150k cars. That is how you should be thinking.

[anaklio]

Studies show that people with money often feel that way. A famous study asked people with 1, 10, and 100 million dollares about their wealth. ALL OF THEM replied that they didn't have enough :-(

[saved]

Studies show that people with money often feel that way. A famous study asked people with 1, 10, and 100 million dollares about their wealth. ALL OF THEM replied that they didn't have enough :-(

I know, I know.      I know one guy who is 75 and worth 20 million. He keeps going after more.

[Billy_27]

I would add that one man's rational thinking may seem irrational to another.

Studies show that people with money often feel that way. A famous study asked people with 1, 10, and 100 million dollares about their wealth. ALL OF THEM replied that they didn't have enough :-(

You can never have enough of a lot of things in life. Money, power, knowledge and so on.