Inefficient thinking
Some people are not particularly aware or alert. If we don’t think about what we do, then we simply react, responding to primitive instincts, urges and impulses. Many people, especially highly narcissistic people, are not deep thinkers. If they were, they might discover that they are not as wonderful as they believe themselves to be, so thinking is something they dislike and avoid. Lack of thought makes such people inconsiderate because they never think about how their actions might affect others and acting without thought makes them impulsive. They often speak without thinking so that their words are off the cuff, with no real conviction behind them. They often contradict themselves or confuse those around them by saying one thing and then behaving in a manner that does not tally with their words. An interesting correlation that researchers have discovered is that the higher people score in empathy the more likely they are also to score highly in critical thinking, reasoning ability, and tolerance.
It’s easier not to think, it’s easier to stuff a mind with distractions, with all kinds of trivia, TV, games, sport, newspapers, radio, ads, junk mail, useless reading, unrelenting socializing, anything that blocks thought. A person might be highly intelligent but still spare little of their brainpower for the examination of ideals, values, principles or their own standards. That way they they can do as they please without having to face up to anything they would prefer not to know. So, if he/she is a smoker, for example, it is easier to refuse to think about negative consequences of the habit than to learn about them and face the prospect of denying him/herself something they enjoy.
Self-absorbed people also frequently exhibit what is known as low-level thinking, which is a lack of judgement and discernment, and a lack of mental investigation or exploration. It is “here and now” thinking, focusing on small details and actions in the present so that they never have to examine their motives or behaviour, or its effects. It allows them to avoid thinking about what is right and wrong. By concentrating on what they are doing in the moment (the details of what and how, rather than why or why not) makes them liable to cross boundaries that people with more awareness do not. This sort of stunted thinking hampers problem-solving skills because they do not examine information, analyze, weigh up alternatives and preferences, study the pros and cons, or try to imagine future consequences. Such narrow thinking stops people from seeing the big picture, the complexity of life, subtlety, or anything that is less than obvious.
Nothing in life comes labeled right or wrong. We need to think, evaluate and judge whether we should do something. Low-level thinking, with its focus on present action rather than the meaning of the action, or its result and affect, can lead to abuse, crime and violence. Socrates believed that thought is central to morality and the writer Hannah Arendt, who reported on the trials of Nazi war criminals, observed that one of their noticeable features was a mindless inattentiveness. Many seemed to be normal men, not sadistic monsters, but were so concerned with daily details that they were able to dismiss the larger ramifications of their acts. If we don’t reflect on and study what happens and what we do, then any conscience we have might be useless.
Another thought process found in excessively self-focussed people is magical thinking, which means not being able to clearly see the relationship between cause and effect. Someone might have total belief in the supernatural, fate, omens and auguries for example. Some people consult clairvoyants and let them resolve problems rather than making their own decisions. Or someone might believe that thinking something or wanting it to be, must make it so. Dr Christiaan Barnard, for example, ten years before he performed the first human heart transplant, tried to use chimpanzee and baboon hearts as bridging organs in human patients, experiments that seem at best unscientific and at worst bizarrely irresponsible, but he wanted them to be successful and apparently saw no reason why they should not be.
Narcissistic people rarely learn from mistakes, setbacks or punishment because they don’t associate their behaviour with any consequences. If they are caught for speeding or drunk driving, they might blame bad luck, government revenue raising, or the bloody-mindedness of police instead of their own law breaking. Such magical thinking leads them to the belief that they are bullet proof, that nothing bad will ever happen to them, that they can smoke sixty cigarettes a day and not get lung cancer, that they can treat their partner unfairly and he or she will never leave them, and that they can get away with things and never get caught.
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See related articles: Optional reality, Changing reality.
