Anger and Rational Thinking vs. Aesthetic Thinking

I have been looking into the Cognitive Behavior Therapies lately. The logic behind the Cognitive Behavior Therapies is that what people are thinking governs their Behavior, and so if they can get a better handle on how they ‘think’, that is, on how they Interpret their Realities, well then their Behaviors will be more, well, ‘thoughtful’. The usual condition is that people think what they habitually think and so they feel the way they habitually feel, and so in the end they behave as they habitually behave. Any bit of consciousness or awareness shining its light within that chain of events would help matters significantly.

But I’ve been noticing that even among people who DO think, well, the thinking is not always Rational or Logical. Now, in this Age of Science and Technology we have sort of grown used to the idea that Thinking in and of itself is Rational. If people ‘think’ about the sum of 2 plus 2, then they will of course arrive at ‘4’. But in cases were the complexity of events goes a bit beyond simple sums, well, I’ve noticed a different style of Thinking taking over. Instead of applying the Standard of Rationality and Objective Empirical Observation to arrive at their Interpretations of Reality, people are using an Aesthetical Style of Thinking, that is, “what is the most ‘Beautiful’ way of interpreting this or that event”.

Now, the problem with Aesthetics is that it is all subject to individual taste. Beauty, and what feels good, sounds good or looks good, or what seems morally or ethically pleasing and ‘right’, well, they are all different qualities for different people. Philosophy has been struggling with Aesthetics for thousands of years now and still can’t tie a nice little bow around it. So, if all of our thinking is governed by pure personal aesthetics – what we think is Good and Beautiful – well, we should be prepared to run into the opposition of other people who can’t be expected to see it the same way as ourselves. We cannot expect everybody to share our Aesthetic Tastes. Not everybody likes Vanilla. Some people will simply demand Chocolate and they aren’t ‘wrong’. So if we Think Aesthetically we will hit that same walls of opposition over and over again.

Well, opposition is frustrating, and that leads some people to Anger. Also, people standing in opposition to you might provoke you to behave angrily toward them, since you probably ‘believe in your heart’ that they simply ought to ‘know’ better… well, it is not really about ‘knowing’, is it. You, the Aesthetic Thinker, is actually thinking that other people ought to ‘think’ better, since, with your vague Aesthetic Way of Thinking, you have really given up on actually ‘knowing’ anything, no? You might Hope and Dream and have Faith, all very Beautiful Concepts, but if the Facts are unpleasant, then you ignore them, because, well, to recognize them and give them prominence in your Decision Making Processes, well, that would be what you would call surrendering to “Negative Thinking”, and that is perhaps the ugliest thing that you simply can’t tolerate in your personal little Beautiful World.

Anyway, I have found that a Rational Style of Thinking, because of its objectivity and repeatability of results among other rational thinkers, to be the preferable mode of Thinking in anger management and indeed in all of the Mental Health Areas. After all, why be Delusional (allowing Aesthetic Preferences to govern the Way we Interpret Reality) unless something is really seriously wrong with one’s self. One should never choose to be Delusional on purpose, even if Delusions do paint a prettier picture than Grim and Hard Reality. Aesthetics based Delusional Thinking only fills us full false hopes and impossible expectations. The Truth may not be pleasant, but, still, it is Real, and the Truth will set us Free.