You Are Not Your Beliefs or Ideas

[DISCLAIMER]

In a blogpost entitled Reasoning With the Unreasonable, I succinctly stated that “people are not their beliefs.” For context, the American Psychological Association (APA) thusly defines belief:

1. acceptance of the truth, reality, or validity of something (e.g., a phenomenon, a person’s veracity), particularly in the absence of substantiation.

2. an association of some characteristic or attribute, usually evaluative in nature, with an attitude object (e.g., this car is reliable).

When providing psychoeducational lessons on Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I encounter a lot of beliefs which are wacky (absurdly or amusingly eccentric or irrational). Thus, I encourage use of beliefs which are instead rational (in accordance with both logic and reason).

Here, logic is the interrelation or sequence of facts or events when seen as inevitable or predictable, and reason is a statement offered in explanation or justification. For instance, a modus ponens syllogism uses the following logical form: If p, then q; p; therefore, q.

As an example, if without evidence, I think that a version of me in another dimension is eating a sandwich made of caterpillars (p), then it empirically must be true that my assumption is real (q). Without evidence, I think that a version of me in another dimension is eating a sandwich made of caterpillars (p). Therefore, it empirically must be true that my assumption is real (q). 

This propositional belief follows logical form. However, there’s no empirical evidence to render it reasonable. Therefore, it isn’t rational. Bear in mind that I’m not arguing that the substance of the belief isn’t true. Rather, I maintain that the proposition is unfalsifiable.

For all we know, there could be a version of me in another dimension that is eating a sandwich made of caterpillars. Yet, because there’s no way of demonstrating the validity of this belief, it isn’t capable of being proved false. Thus, it isn’t a reasonable conclusion (i.e., it’s irrational).

Now, suppose you challenged my belief and I self-disturbed with an additional irrational belief (e.g., you absolutely mustn’t criticize me). Aside from use of a rigid assumption (i.e., inflexibly demanding what you mustn’t do), I will have unhelpfully concluded that I am my beliefs.

For clarity, REBT uses the ABC model to illustrate that when an undesirable Action occurs and you Believe an unhelpful narrative about the event, it’s your unfavorable assumption, not the occurrence itself, that causes an unpleasant Consequence. This causes distress or disturbance.

In particular, there are four predominate irrational beliefs which people often use to upset themselves: global evaluations, low frustration tolerance, awfulizing, and demandingness. When contemplating these unproductive beliefs, think of the acronym GLAD.

As an example, you challenge my absurd assumption about an interdimensional version of me that eats a caterpillar sandwich (Action) and I unproductively Believe, “You absolutely mustn’t criticize me!” Using this ‘D’ of a rigid GLAD self-narrative, I become angry (Consequence).

Addressing how people upset themselves with unhelpful attitudes, the ABC model incorporates Disputation of unproductive philosophies of life in order to explore Effective new beliefs. Whereas rigid beliefs cause self-disturbance, flexible beliefs result in an un-disturbed condition.

The key takeaway point is that people aren’t our beliefs. I was recently reminded of this lesson when listening to PowerfulJRE, Joe Rogan’s popular podcast. Specifically, when interviewing Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Jenney Jr. on an episode, Rogan stated:

There’s also a real, genuine problem today in the marketplace of outrage, and that a lot of people… a lot of their podcasts are just focused, almost entirely, on outrage and of having arguments and screaming matches with people. You know, putting people down and not having civil discourse, but trying to win—trying to dominate someone in an argument.

You know, trying to squash people. And I guess, in a sense, some of that is really good, because it exposes bad ideas. But it just encourages that kind of discourse where if someone is ideologically opposed to you, they are the enemy and you want to destroy them.

And I’m like, okay, they’re just a human being. Like, find out why they go to where they are, that is a different perspective than you have, and why you got to where you are. And try to figure out if there’s some middle ground in there.

Like, what you believe? Why do you believe that? And find out why. Ask them, and don’t cut ‘em off. Let ‘em talk. Let ‘em express themselves. Help ‘em if you can. Try to figure out what makes someone actually think instead of just thinking that your ideas are a part of you. They’re just ideas! Like, they’re not you!

Like, some ideas you can hold in your mind, and they’re bad for you. They’re bad! You haven’t examined them. You’re acting on them, like they’re doctrine. And then you’re stuck with that idea, because you’ve already espoused it so many times you don’t wanna be a flip-flopper!

And some people get mad. And you get this weird cycle of shitty communication, and nobody ever breaks out of it. And nothing ever gets done. And there’s no common ground that’s ever achieved. And the only way you’re gonna ever break that is to stop talking to people like that.

You got to just talk to ‘em. Instead of talking to them like they’re the enemy, just talk to them like they’re a fellow human being… about some ideas.

What Rogan described was the ABC model, whether he’s familiar with it or not. Noteworthy, the APA thusly defines an idea:

1. in cognitive psychology, a mental image or cognition that is ultimately derived from experience but that may occur without direct reference to perception or sensory processes.

2. in the writings of René Descartes and the British empiricist philosophers (see empiricism), a mental event that may correspond to something outside the mind but that is itself the immediate object of thought or perception. Descartes made a celebrated and much disputed distinction between derived ideas and innate ideas.

3. in the thought of Greek philosopher Plato (c. 427–c. 347 bce), the abstract or intellectual form of something regarded as its true reality.

Whereas beliefs are deeply held propositions, often unquestioned, and generally accepted as true (e.g., if I think it, then it’s true), ideas tend to be flexible concepts or suggestions which may inspire action (e.g., if I think it, then I preferably should do something about it).

In common parlance, beliefs and ideas are concepts which are used synonymously. Nonetheless, while ideas may be fleeting and external, beliefs are usually internalized and steady, and they influence additional thoughts, emotions, sensations, and behavior.

Importantly, pertaining to the current blogpost, you are not your beliefs or ideas. I encourage you to remember this lesson the next time someone challenges the product of your mind (i.e., beliefs and ideas). You aren’t the content of your mental processes. You’re just a fallible human being.

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life—helping you to sharpen your critical thinking skills, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

As a psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues ranging from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW

Photo credit (edited), Designed by Freepik, fair use

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