65. Self-Centered Thinking Traps

Key Definitions

Reasoning is the process of thinking and drawing conclusions from information based a particular type of logic. As this logic is specific to each individual, it is also called a person’s worldview, frame of reference, cognitive filter, perceptual lens, or perspective.

People’s perspective develops over their lifetime, depending on their surroundings and experiences. It is formed by what they encounter as individuals, as members of a group, as humans and as living in the current era. But while circumstances shape people’s perspective, that perspective in turn shapes how people see their circumstances.

Conceptual Model

The Self-Centered Thinking Traps framework outlines the four most common ways in which people’s narrow self-centered perspectives can lead to shortsighted conclusions. These four ways of thinking are all based on people’s inherent tendency to place themselves at the center of the world and then to project their reality on to their surroundings. By predominantly viewing matters from their own perspective, they draw highly colored, one-sided conclusions, that would be different if they could see things from multiple perspectives. The framework identifies four types of self-centeredness (the blue arrows) and three types of reasoning (interpreting, valuing, and judging), and gives 36 examples of shortsighted conclusions that are often drawn.

Key Elements

The three types of reasoning are the following:

1. The first step in reasoning is to try to make sense of reality. Self-centered thinkers will assume that they are normal and understand the world from that viewpoint.
2. A step further than determining what is valid, is weighing what should be valued. Self-centered thinkers will assume that they are more important than anything else.
3. Judging. The last step in reasoning is to draw conclusions and pass judgement. Self-centered thinkers will assume they are right and proceed accordingly.

The four types of self-centered thinking are:

1. Egocentric Thinking. Reasoning from your own personal perspective is the most recognized form of self-centered thinking. Individuals will believe they are normal and assume that others think in the same way (‘they probably mean…”), or at least should think in the same way. They can even value themselves above all others, favor their own interests and look down on people who “don’t get it”.
2. Ethnocentric Thinking. Reasoning from a group’s perspective comes in many forms, as people are members of many groups. People will take the perspective of their national culture as obvious, not understanding or valuing other cultures. But they can also view matters through the lens of their ethnic group, social class, gender, club, region, company, and/or department. The more they interact within their group, the stronger their bias will be.
3. Anthropocentric Thinking. Maybe less obvious is the tendency of people to view reality from the perspective of being a human. People will assume that other things “think” in a human-like way (e.g. animals, AI, God) and that humans are more important than anything else, justifying human’s central role in the world. The consequences can vary from treating a dog like a human baby to accepting that humans have the right to create climate change.
4. Chronocentric Thinking. The least obvious is the tendency to view reality from the perspective of our current era. People constantly reinterpret history through the lens of modern times, not understanding how our ancestors could be so foolish and retroactively condemning their behavior, or alternatively, glorifying the past. In the same way, people project today into the future, predicting impending doom or imminent greatness.

Key Insights

• Reasoning is inherently subjective. Reasoning is a train of thought that leads to a conclusion. This thinking can’t be objective as people view the world from a specific perspective – through a lens that we have built up during our life, based on our experiences.
• Reasoning comes in three forms. People use this lens to interpret the information they receive (i.e. sense-making), to place value on themselves in the situation (i.e. determining importance) and to judge what the consequences should be (i.e. decision-making).
• Reasoning is full of hidden traps. The lens that people use will always color what people see. So, if people have only one highly colored lens, their reasoning is going to be highly biased. The danger is that they will not be aware of their own slanted perspective.
• Reasoning can be dangerously self-centered. The most common form of bias is reasoning from one’s own perspective – called self-centered thinking. People can think from their personal perspective (egocentric thinking), from their group’s perspective (ethnocentric thinking), from their human perspective (anthropocentric thinking) and from their era’s perspective (chronocentric thinking).
• Reasoning can be enriched by multiple perspectives. To avoid these self-centered thinking traps, people need to reflect on their own thinking, to open up to feedback on their thinking and to practice using multiple perspectives to be able to see matters from different angles. Of course, engaging in dialogue with people who have a different perspective is probably the most valuable approach, if it is true dialogue and not debate.