Anticynical #6: Thought Antipatterns

Thought Antipatterns (a.k.a, Cognitive Distortions), Beyond Survival.

Hi friend 👋,

Welcome to the sixth edition of Anticynical. Last week, I wrote about a plurality of values, talking about how hyper-focus on a single value can be detrimental and how a plurality of values can keep the undesirable effects of any single value in check.

The idea in today’s edition is thought antipatterns.

Idea: Thought Antipatterns (a.k.a, Cognitive Distortions)

In a nutshell: our thinking can often get distorted and fall into irrational thought patterns; awareness of the most common distortions and thought patterns can help us recognize and correct them.

I am a computer scientist to my core. Not only is it the area of my vocation, but computer science concepts and metaphors color my world in myriad ways.

One such metaphor I've recently ported into my everyday life is that of antipatterns. It's a concept from computer science (software engineering) that refers to common, bad, ineffective solutions to recurring problems.

For example, breaking down software into small, manageable pieces is good practice. Developers who are too lazy, ignorant, or just short on time¹ might keep adding more code (more responsibility) to existing entities, leading to these entities becoming "blobs" that do a lot of unrelated stuff. These blobs become hard to understand and maintain. This antipattern is called The Blob, a.k.a., The God Class or The God Object.²

Breaking down the above definition of antipattern from software engineering, we see that it has three parts:

1. there is a recurring problem,

2. it is often solved using a common solution (pattern), but

3. the common solution leads to bad outcomes (pattern is, in fact, an antipattern).

Similarly, our thinking can also fall into antipatterns, or what I call: thought antipatterns.

So when looking for antipatterns in your thinking, again, you’re looking for

1. recurring problems you face,

2. automatic solutions or thought patterns you generate, and

3. notice if these automatic solutions can be harmful, and consider possible alternatives.

Let’s go through some examples.

Example 1

• Recurring problem: You sometimes say stupid or embarrassing stuff in front of others.

• Thought antipattern: In your head, you lambaste yourself incessantly and become more apprehensive about speaking your mind thereafter.

• Alternatives: Get better at laughing it off; realize that our brains output weird stuff sometimes and be okay with it; strive to be more rational and less ignorant; cut the unnecessary self-inflicted agony.

Example 2

• Recurring problem: I can’t sleep!

• Thought antipatterns: Think about how not getting enough sleep will ruin the next day; try to convince yourself logically that sleeping is vital, so you should go to sleep.

• Alternatives: Not thinking about sleep;³ meditating; exercising; improving sleep hygiene; using sleep masks, warm socks, supplements, and other sleep aids.

Example 3

• Recurring problem: Sometimes, you feel inferior to people around you.

• Thought antipatterns: Wallow in self-pity; construct artificial examples that "prove" you're superior to those people, deluding yourself into feeling better about yourself.

• Alternatives: try to figure out the root cause(s) behind this feeling of inferiority; journalling your thoughts and emotions to better process them.

To improve your self-awareness, it can be useful to label your thought antipatterns. This labeling can help you more easily spot your them.

Thankfully—as I recently discovered—there’s already a term in psychology close to my idea of thought antipatterns. The term is cognitive distortions.⁴ As the name suggests, cognitive distortions are errors in thinking produced by exaggerated and irrational thought patterns.

Cognitive distortions can function as labels for thought antipatterns. Some cognitive distortions are:⁵

• Personalizing: assuming everything is about you.

• Catastrophizing: making a situation seem worse than it actually is.

• Black-and-white thinking: seeing things as between two opposites—good and bad, inferior and superior—with no in-between.

• Disqualifying the positive: rejecting positive experiences because they “don’t count” for some reason or another.

• Irrational consistency: trying to maintain your previous impressions and personas even when you’d rather not be defined by them.

By labeling, recognizing, and breaking your thought antipatterns, you can develop more effective and healthy ways of thinking. It's important to identify the recurring problems you face, notice your automatic solutions, and think of alternatives. Doing so can improve your mental processes and help you lead a better life.

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Question: What are some things that take your life beyond just existing or survival?

These are things that bring you joy, excitement, and meaning.

They can be simple things like hanging out with friends/family, reading, or going on a drive. Or more involved stuff like vacations, adventures, meditation retreats, and taking courses.

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I’d love to hear from you…

What are some thought antipatterns you fall into? What are some alternative ways of thinking in those situations?

Do you have a weird or peculiar activity that you brings you joy, excitement, and meaning?

Or anything else at all. Just hit reply.

1. Over the long run, not falling into antipatterns saves time. But under a time crunch, the “long run” can seem like an abstract concept, a problem for another day.

2. Most software antipatterns have funky names.

3. You might object that trying to “not think” about sleep will only lead to more thoughts about sleep. I also struggled with that paradox initially. You should be at peace with potentially not getting enough sleep, and then try to focus on something else. I just meditate while lying down, reminding myself that getting five hours of meditation instead of sleep is still a pretty good deal.

4. Cognitive distortions is a fundamental concept in cognitive behavioral therapy, one of the most effective and popular forms of psychological therapy.

5. Sources: cognitive distortions HMS blog post, Cognitive distortions Wikipedia page.