Perspectives
7 November 2016

Mental footnotes: knowledge constructivism from logical thinking to personal beliefs and therapy

Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
2070
Views
861
Downloads
361
HTML

Authors

The cognitive system has to carry out tasks that require mental activity, which is tiresome. Therefore, daily life demands that the system saves energy in order to be able to solve relevant problems. If we had to reason every single problem that was presented to us, our mental load and fatigue would increase immeasurably. Our minds can avoid the unnecessary waste of resources by taking a shortcut when reasoning. The output of previous reasoning turns into pieces of implicit information that constitute the meanings we give to things or circumstances, as the general framework where other reasoning occurs. These implicit meanings determine the manner we represent our environment and, therefore, our beliefs, emotions and behaviors. These mental footnotes set the manner in which we contemplate and conceive the world and we deal with reality. The better we understand these processes, the better we can control and restructure them, and even capitalize on their functioning for therapy.

Altmetrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

How to Cite



Mental footnotes: knowledge constructivism from logical thinking to personal beliefs and therapy. (2016). Research in Psychotherapy: Psychopathology, Process and Outcome, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/ripppo.2016.234