I Know What You Are Thinking and Why!
Sometimes, the most important mental activity is not what you think, but what you think about what you think. Let's unpack that contention. Suppose you are walking along the avenue, and a friend drives past. You wave and your friend does not acknowledge you. Your automatic thought is "What's wrong with him?" You then proceed to thinking: "The last time we talked, he asked me to come over to his house to help him, and I declined. I bet he's still irritated about that” You then might think about something else while retaining the belief in your friend's irritation. You also could ruminate about your friend not-waving-to-you problem for minutes, hours, or days. When you see your friend again, you mention that you waved and he did not respond, and he answers, "Oh, I don't remember seeing you." At that point you could accept his explanation, be satisfied, and banish the not-waving-incident from your mind. However, it also is possible that you ...