Language records reveal a surge of cognitive distortions in recent decades
If you look up at the sky and say "oh its sunny today", you are overgeneralizing because you haven't seen the rest of the city. If you had worn masks or started being cautious before COVID was widely acknowledged, you were catastrophizing. If you ever talk or act based on a mental model you have of a friend, you are mindreading.<p>"Cognitive distortions" are the only tools we have to reason about <i>anything</i> in the presence of limited information (which is basically always). Its basically a toolbox to let you discredit <i>any</i> thought whatsoever, which is convenient when a patient writes down negative thoughts and the psychiatrist can just hand them a list. But it would work just as well on positive thoughts or any thought whatsoever.