What Is Reversible Thinking? Holding On To Beliefs

The brain is often thought of as an organ dedicated to carrying out meticulous rational analyzes of everything that concerns our survival. However, when we start to investigate a concept called reversible thinking, we see that this is not the case. To exemplify this, we can use a small game.

I’m going to show you four different cards. In each of them, on one side there is a number and on the other there is a letter.

And I also want you to know that I am convinced that on each card with an “E” on one side, there is a “2” on the other

Now I ask you: How can you know if I am telling the truth? What minimum number of cards do I need to turn over to find out if my statement is correct or false?

Before continuing reading or going out to find the solution to the problem, take a few minutes to think about it… And remember your answer well.

Playing with thought

If you believe that in order to know whether my statement is correct or not, it is necessary to turn over the card containing the letter “E”, then you have responded like the vast majority of people to whom the problem was posed. On the other side of the card with the letter “E” there may or may not be a number “2”. If not, then you would be sure that my statement is false.

But on the other hand, it turns out that if you actually find a number “2”, that is not enough to assert that my statement is true. Now, you will probably then conclude that you also need to turn over the card with the “2” to check if there is an “E” on the back. But that solution is also wrong

In the event that there is a letter “E” behind the card that has the “2” we will know with certainty that the statement I made at the beginning is correct. But on the other hand, remember that I have not said anything about what must be behind the card that has the “2”, and, in truth, any of the many letters that the alphabet has can be found. What if we also turn over the card that has the letter “N”?

Well, I think it’s clear that this solution doesn’t make any sense. The problem is solved satisfactorily by turning over the cards that have the “E” and the number “5”. Can you understand why? Can’t you?

But what an outrage. I have to explain everything to him!

Reversible thinking

Clearly, first of all it is necessary to see if there is a “2” behind the card marked with an “E”. But we must also sniff out what is behind the card that has the “5”, because only then will we know without a doubt, if we find an “E” on the other side, that the premise I formulated at the beginning is true.

Let’s look at it another way. If behind an “E” there can be a “5” that would spoil the statement, it is legitimate to think that behind a “5” there can also be an “E” which, for practical purposes, is exactly the same. The possibility of reasoning in one direction and also in the opposite direction It is known as reversible thinking and it seems to be a property that tends to be in short supply among specimens of the human race.

When we believe something, what we usually do is look for information that confirms our belief and we rarely take the trouble to look for counter-evidence, just in case we turn out to be wrong.

We make quick, accelerated, almost thoughtless judgments, and as soon as some indication appears that we are right about what we thought, we immediately conform; This is a phenomenon that occurs every day, and as incredible as it may seem, from which practically no one is exempt, from the individual with the lowest possible educational level to those with the highest academic honors.

He does not belive me? I am going to tell you about a series of studies that have revealed the thought process that doctors follow when diagnosing.

The first hypothesis is the one that wins

Imagine that you are going to see Dr. González. Already in the office, to the typical question of “What brings you here?”, you tell him a series of discomforts that have been bothering you for a few days. Naturally in this case, the doctor takes note of the symptoms that you mention and begins to think of one or two hypotheses that could explain the problem. Based on this diagnosis, which the doctor considers probable, he performs a brief physical examination and indicates a series of studies.

Well, scientific evidence suggests that in cases like this, doctors stick to their original hypothesis they dive headlong into confirming it, and often lose sight of the need to find the countertest that validates the diagnosis (the equivalent of turning over the card with the number “5”).

But the thing is a little more serious still. What has been observed is that doctors (even experts, who have many hours of clinical experience) tend to dismiss data that does not fit their expectations, they underestimate them, or sometimes they even ignore them completely. According to the very nature of the brain, any clinical condition that a patient may present cannot be evaluated objectively and absolutely. Beyond his knowledge, the doctor makes an interpretation of what the patient tells him, and establishes in his mind a starting point based on which he orders the studies he considers necessary.

The problem is that many times this original diagnosis functions as a rigid and immovable anchor point. The professional then strives to find data that confirms his previous opinion. In the process, you may even overestimate any minor or irrelevant clue that goes in the same direction as your previous expectations, giving it a high degree of confirmatory value while, at the same time, downplaying any information that is not consistent.

When we hold on to expectations

I am not suggesting that you should not visit your doctor the next time you catch the flu or feel any pain. Nor does it intend to give you lessons on how you should do your job. But the truth is that there is practically no topic concerning the human species on which psychologists have not put their magnifying glass at some point in history, and the topic of reversible thinking is one of them.

And this is how clinical reasoning often works The first diagnosis that comes to the doctor’s mind determines the path to follow, and also contributes to distorting the interpretation of the results of the different studies that are requested from the suffering patient. Something similar happens with most people, regardless of their occupation, in their daily lives and in their personal relationships.

All this irrationality that colors the senses and plays such an important role in everyday decisions is attributable, in part, to the fact that the brain is a cognitive lazy This means that it is governed according to a principle of mental economy that often leads us to make mistakes in our day-to-day assessments. It is an invisible, unconscious process through which the complex is simplified, and helps us create mental categories to be able to classify our experience and thus not have to start from scratch every time we face a new situation.

It also causes us to take shortcuts in our reasoning processes and drawing conclusions; all, of course, with the laudable purpose of making things easier for us, but unfortunately with the additional cost of a certain small madness or irrationality in our behavior.

So that, it is worth demystifying the brain and not consider it a supercomputer designed to perform meticulous data analysis according to conventional logic. Whenever he can, he uses resources to take work off his plate.