Interesting how spotting a logical fallacy in your own way of thinking can help counter self destructive thoughts. The slippery slope tactic seems to be similar to the train of thought adapted by those who have anxiety. This might relate more to the second part - but I remember when I was younger I had a slight fear of rollercoasters. I loved them, but we went to this … questionable theme park once - where the structure of the rides did not look reliable at all. I kept thinking what if the ride breaks down while I am on it, what if I fall off to the street, etc. Then I just started attaching percentages to each thought - it hasn’t happened to anyone before you, and it has been running for years. That kind of forces me out of my own biases (to some extent, technically my percentages might be subjective too).
Also is the concept in the quote referring to recursion?
Absolutely. I love how self awareness allowed you to self-correct.
It’s interesting how anxiety can sometimes trump rationality. Even with the best will. Myself, as an example: I don’t like flying, and went for a stretch of seven years without getting on a plane. I remember trying an approach similar to yours, of assigning probabilities to outcomes—the plane might blow an engine, but how likely is that; the pilot might get a heart attack, but how likely is that. It had served me before. Yet with this one anxiety, I just couldn’t break out of being fixated on the worst possible outcome irrespective of the low odds of it happening.
(I remember having top of mind, at the time, that passage from Bertrand Russell about the chicken, who'll think tomorrow will be just like today, given all the evidence. And yet one day, the chicken wakes up and has its neck wrung.*)
The one thing that ended up making a difference was learning about how plane engines are built. What was abstract all of a sudden became meaningful. It activated some other part of my rational brain, which subdued my anxiety enough that it was no longer debilitating.
On the other point, it isn’t recursion. But that’s a good guess!
I completely understand, learning more about a topic definitely helps. My 6 year old used to ask me to read out facts on whatever animal/insect was scaring her that week before she went to sleep - that usually helped calm her down. It seems counterintuitive - but it works. I feel like it’s because that fear was actually not of the object itself - but of the unknown.
Interesting how spotting a logical fallacy in your own way of thinking can help counter self destructive thoughts. The slippery slope tactic seems to be similar to the train of thought adapted by those who have anxiety. This might relate more to the second part - but I remember when I was younger I had a slight fear of rollercoasters. I loved them, but we went to this … questionable theme park once - where the structure of the rides did not look reliable at all. I kept thinking what if the ride breaks down while I am on it, what if I fall off to the street, etc. Then I just started attaching percentages to each thought - it hasn’t happened to anyone before you, and it has been running for years. That kind of forces me out of my own biases (to some extent, technically my percentages might be subjective too).
Also is the concept in the quote referring to recursion?
Absolutely. I love how self awareness allowed you to self-correct.
It’s interesting how anxiety can sometimes trump rationality. Even with the best will. Myself, as an example: I don’t like flying, and went for a stretch of seven years without getting on a plane. I remember trying an approach similar to yours, of assigning probabilities to outcomes—the plane might blow an engine, but how likely is that; the pilot might get a heart attack, but how likely is that. It had served me before. Yet with this one anxiety, I just couldn’t break out of being fixated on the worst possible outcome irrespective of the low odds of it happening.
(I remember having top of mind, at the time, that passage from Bertrand Russell about the chicken, who'll think tomorrow will be just like today, given all the evidence. And yet one day, the chicken wakes up and has its neck wrung.*)
The one thing that ended up making a difference was learning about how plane engines are built. What was abstract all of a sudden became meaningful. It activated some other part of my rational brain, which subdued my anxiety enough that it was no longer debilitating.
On the other point, it isn’t recursion. But that’s a good guess!
* http://www.ditext.com/russell/rus6.html
I completely understand, learning more about a topic definitely helps. My 6 year old used to ask me to read out facts on whatever animal/insect was scaring her that week before she went to sleep - that usually helped calm her down. It seems counterintuitive - but it works. I feel like it’s because that fear was actually not of the object itself - but of the unknown.
That sums it up—we fear things we don't understand.
(The House on East 88th Street just came to mind. It's a sweet picture book, with that general message for readers.)