It’s okay. So am I. So is every human on the planet. Egocentric thought simply refers to our natural tendency to not examine our own thought processes too closely or critically.
But there are times when you ought to be aware of the tendency. It can manifest itself in many ways. If you were ever on the debate team in school, these might ring a bell.
• Egocentric blindness – ignoring facts and evidence that contradicts our beliefs or ideas. Basic denial, but in the more extreme dysfunctional forms, this is delusion.
• Egocentric hypocrisy – ignoring obvious discrepancies between what we say we believe and how we act. This could look like denial.
• Egocentric immediacy – over-generalizing immediate feelings and experiences to the extent that when a few things stand out as positive or negative, all our life seems positive or negative. Drama, anyone?
• Egocentric righteousness – seeing ourselves as completely right and possessing all Truth. For most people, this means playing “Yes, But” sometimes, because we’re convinced we know better than others. Taken to the extreme, this is a control freak who probably leaps to (incorrect) conclusions at light speed.
Recognize any of those? If you only see characteristics of others, read them again!
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