mental gymnastics
Twisted logical maneuvers
Mental gymnastics refers to elaborate, often convoluted reasoning used to justify a belief or position that would otherwise seem indefensible.
The term is almost always pejorative, implying that someone is twisting logic or performing intellectual contortions to avoid facing an uncomfortable truth.
The mental gymnastics required to defend that policy are exhausting.
Unlike genuine intellectual rigor, mental gymnastics suggests effort spent evading rather than pursuing understanding.
Reason proving rightness
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- cognitive dissonanceDiscomfort from contradictory beliefs
- motivated reasoningBiased cognition favoring preferences
- spinRapid rotation around axis
cherry-picking · sophistry · equivocation · denial · deflection · contortion · excuse-making · apologetics
Conclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
- synthesisCombining parts into whole
problem-solving · puzzling out · working through · figuring out · untangling · parsing · extrapolation · connecting dots
Generating many ideas freely
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- ideationForming mental concepts
- inventivenessCapacity for original creation
- ingenuityClever, original thinking
divergent thinking · reframing · conceptualization · improvisation · visualization · free association · innovation · blue-sky thinking
justification
Reason proving rightness
- self-deceptionConvincing yourself of falsehoods
- cognitive dissonanceDiscomfort from contradictory beliefs
- motivated reasoningBiased cognition favoring preferences
spin · cherry-picking · sophistry · equivocation · denial · deflection · contortion · excuse-making · apologetics · casuistry
deduction
Conclusion from premises
- inferenceConclusion reached through reasoning
- analysisMethodical study of parts
- abstractionDistilling to essential qualities
synthesis · problem-solving · puzzling out · working through · figuring out · untangling · parsing · extrapolation · connecting dots · thought experiment
brainstorming
Generating many ideas freely
- imaginationFaculty for forming ideas
- ideationForming mental concepts
- inventivenessCapacity for original creation
ingenuity · divergent thinking · reframing · conceptualization · improvisation · visualization · free association · innovation · blue-sky thinking
- cognitive dissonancerationalization, denial, justification, self-deception, compartmentalization
- excusesexcuse, not my fault, overslept, alibi, excuses
- Mind/Thought Idiomstrain of thought, food for thought, brainstorm, brain wave, think tank
- Thinking phrasesI think, I believe, in my opinion, I wonder, I suppose
- cognitive biasesconfirmation bias, anchoring bias, negativity bias, framing effect, optimism bias
- fallaciesstraw man, red herring, circular reasoning, ad hominem, fallacy
mental gymnasticsclear thinking
linear thinking · common sense · Occam's razor · logical thinking · parsimony
mental gymnasticsintellectual honesty
Commitment to truth over ego
facing facts · candor · good faith argument · truth-seeking · accountability
mental gymnasticsintuitive understanding
Knowledge felt, not learned
self-evident truth · no-brainer · plain truth · gut feeling · instinct
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