Think for yourself (3-2): Understanding the relationship between the three functions of the mind

Think of a situation you were in recently where you experienced a negative emotion such as anger, frustration, depression, insecurity, fear, etc. 1) Write out in detail what was going on in the situation and how you felt in the situation.

2) Now try to figure out the thinking you were doing in the circumstance, which led to the negative feeling. Write out the thinking in detail.

3) Then write how your thinking and feeling impacted your behavior.

Think for yourself (5-1): Beginning to understand egocentrism

Think of the most self-centered person you know. This may be someone who is fundamentally selfish or arrogant. Describe the person’s behavior in detail. Based on the person’s behavior, how would you describe her/his thinking? What types of feelings does s/he display? What is the person motivated to do? To what extent does the person use other people to get what s/he wants? To what extent does the person exhibit sincere concern for the thoughts and feelings of others?

Think for Yourself (5-2): Identifying Irrational Values and Ends

See if you can identify some irrational values or ends that you have subconsciously come to adopt. Make a list of some problems that resulted from your pursuing these irrational ends. Then figure out how you might begin to act in order to dissolve those problems through the adoption of more rational values and ends. (Of course, we are NOT assuming that the actual doing of this would be easy!)

Think For Yourself (5-3): Identifying Some of Your Irrational Beliefs

Read p. 11 in the Human Mind Guide (or p. 6 in Concepts and Tools ), identify at least one belief you hold in each of the categories.

“It’s true because I believe it” ___________________________________________ “It’s true because everyone around me (or my group) believes it”__________________________________ “It’s true because I want to believe it” ___________________________________________ “It’s true because I have always believed it.

_________________________________________ “It’s true because it is in my selfish interest to believe it”________________________________ Finally, on a scale of 1-10 (10 equating with “highly irrational” and 1 with “highly rational”) where would you place yourself and why?

Think for Yourself (5-4): Beginning to Understand Egocentric Thinking

Try to think of a disagreement you were in recently in which you now realize you were not fair-mindedly listening to the views of someone else. Perhaps you were defensive during the conversation, or were trying to dominate the other person. You were not trying to see the situation from the perspective of the person with whom you were interacting. At the time, however, you believed that you were being reasonable. Now you realize that you were close-minded. Complete these statements: 1) The situation was as follows… 2) My behavior/thinking in the situation was as follows… 3) I now realize that I was close-minded because… (If you cannot think of an example, think of a situation you recently were in where someone else was close-minded. Also, ask yourself why you cannot think of any examples of close-mindedness on your part).

Think for Yourself (5-5): Discovering Prejudices in Your Beliefs

As egocentric thinkers we see ourselves as in possession of the truth . At the same time, we form many beliefs without the evidence to justify them. In other words, we form many prejudices (judgments before the evidence). If this is true, using our rational capacities we should be able to begin to unearth some of our prejudices. In an attempt to begin this process, complete the following statements: 1. One of the prejudices I have is …(think of generalizations you tend to make even though you don’t have the evidence to justify them. It can be about anything you please: about a religion, about atheists, about men, women, homosexuals, heterosexuals, etc…Put your prejudice in this form: All x are y, as in all women are ??, or all men are ??.) 2. A more rational belief with which I should replace this faulty belief is… If I use this new belief in my thinking, my behavior would change in the following ways…

Think for Yourself (5-6): Recognizing Egocentric Thinking in Action

Think of a situation in which someone you know was trying to selfishly manipulate you into doing something incompatible with your interest. Complete the followings statements: 1. The situation was as follows… 2. This person, x, was trying to manipulate me in the following way (by giving me these reasons for going along with him/her)… 3. At the time, these reasons (did/did not) seem rational because… 4. I believe this person was trying to manipulate me because… 5. I think the real (irrational) reason why s/he wanted me to go along with his/her reasoning is because…

Think for Yourself (5-7):

Unearthing Dysfunctional Egocentric Thinking

Try to think of a time when your desire to selfishly get what you want failed because of your egocentric behavior. Complete these statements: 1) The situation was as follows… 2) thought…and behaved… 3) 4) When I didn’t get what I wanted, I A more rational way to think would have been… A more rational way to act would have been…

Think for Yourself (5-8): To What Extent Are You Rational?

Now that you have read an introduction to rationality and irrationality (or egocentrism), think about the extent to which you think you are either rational or irrational. Answer these questions: 1. If you were to divide yourself into two parts, one being egocentric and the other rational, to what extent would you say you are either? Would you say you are 100% rational, 50% rational and 50% egocentric, or how would you divide yourself?

2. What reasoning would you give to support your answer to number one above?

3. To the extent that you are egocentric, what problems does your egocentrism cause?

4. Does your egocentric thinking tend to cause more problems for yourself or for others? Explain.

Think for Yourself (5-9): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Dominating?

Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Complete the following statements: 1. I tend to be the most (egocentrically) dominating in the following types of situations… 2. Some examples of my dominating egocentric behavior are… 3. I am usually successfully/ unsuccessfully able to dominate others when I try to.

4. My dominating behavior creates problems because…

Think for Yourself (5-10): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Submissive?

Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Complete the following statements: 1. I tend to be the most (egocentrically) submissive in the following types of situations… 2. Some examples of my submissive egocentric behavior are… 3. I am usually successfully/unsuccessfully able to manipulate others through submissiveness when I try to.

4. My submissive behavior creates problems because…

Think for Yourself (5-11): To What Extent Are You Egocentrically Dominating versus Submissive?

Think about your typical patterns of interaction with friends, family members, fellow workers, etc. Do you tend to be more dominating or submissive in most situations in which you are egocentric? What about your friends, family members, coworkers? Do they tend to be more dominating or submissive? Given your experience, what problems emerge from people behaving in dominating or submissive ways?