EGOCENTRIC THINKING
A tendency for some MissLed women to view everything in relationship to themselves.  They confuse immediate perception
(how things seem) with reality. Consequently, their desires, values, and beliefs (seeming to be self-evidently correct
or superior to those of others) are often uncritically used as the norm of all judgment and experience.
Egocentric thinking is instinctive. Humans do not naturally consider the rights and needs of others, nor
do they appreciate the limitations in their own points of view. They become explicitly aware of their
egocentric thinking only if trained to do so. If not properly trained, MissLed women won't recognize their egocentric assumptions.
The egocentric way they use information, the egocentric way they interpret data, the source of their
egocentric concepts and ideas. The implications of their egocentric thought.
MissLed naturally believe in their intuitive perceptions - however inaccurate.
They do not recognize their self-serving perspective.
Instead of using intellectual standards in thinking, they often use self-centered psychological (rather
than intellectual) standards to determine what to believe and what to reject.
Here are MissLed women's innate, self-centered psychological tendencies  that determine what they believe
and what they reject:
"IT'S TRUE BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT."
Innate egocentrism: MissLed women assume that what they believe is true even though they have never questioned
the basis for many of their beliefs.
"IT'S TRUE BECAUSE WE BELIEVE IT."
Innate sociocentrism: They assume that the dominant beliefs within the groups to which they belong are true even though they
have never questioned the basis for many of these beliefs.
"IT'S TRUE BECAUSE I WANT TO BELIEVE IT."
Innate wish fulfillment: MissLed women believe in accounts of behavior that put them (or the groups to which they belong)
in a positive rather than a negative light. Any evidence that is negative is ignored or given short shrift.
They believe what "feels good," what supports their other beliefs, what does not require them to change their
thinking in any significant way, and what does not require them to admit they have been wrong.
"IT'S TRUE BECAUSE I HAVE ALWAYS BELIEVED IT."
Innate self-validation: They have a strong desire to maintain beliefs that they have long held.  Self-validation
persists,  even though they have not seriously considered the extent to which those beliefs are justified, given the evidence.
"IT'S TRUE BECAUSE IT IS IN MY SELFISH INTEREST TO BELIEVE IT."
Innate selfishness: MissLed women hold fast to beliefs that justify them receiving more power, money, or personal advantage.
Once again, these are held even though such beliefs are not grounded in sound reasoning or evidence.

Not surprisingly, Egocentricity is one of the fundamental impediments to critical thinking.
If one learns to think critically in a strong sense, one learns to become more rational, and less egocentric.
MissLed women, unfortunately, have insufficiently developed critical thinking ability.  This deficit leaves them
prone to the these Egocentric tendencies:
Egocentric Memory  - MissLed women "forget" evidence and information which does not support their thinking and to
"remember" evidence and information which does.
Egocentric Myopia - They think in an absolutist way within an overly narrow point of view.
Egocentric Irrationality - MissLed women think in a manner that lacks rationality, which restricts them from examining
the concerns and interests that are necessary for their success.
Egocentric Infallibility - MissLed women think that their beliefs are true because they believe them.
Egocentric Righteousness - They feel superior in the light of our confidence that they are in the possession
of THE TRUTH.
Egocentric Hypocrisy - MissLed women ignore flagrant inconsistencies between what they profess to believe and the actual
beliefs their behavior imply. Or, hypocritical inconsistencies between the standards to which they hold themselves and
those to which they expect others to adhere.
Egocentric Oversimplification - They ignore real and important complexities in the world in favor of simplistic
notions.  This is often done when consideration of those complexities would require them to modify their beliefs or values.
Egocentric Blindness - MissLed women fail to notice facts or evidence which contradict their favored beliefs or values.
Egocentric Immediacy - They over-generalize immediate feelings and experiences. Thus,  when one event in their life
is highly favorable or unfavorable, all of life seems favorable or unfavorable as well.
Eegocentric Absurdity - MissLed fail to notice thinking which has "absurd" consequences, when noticing them would
force them to rethink their position.
When MissLed women's thinking is guided by such egocentric tendencies, they see the world from a narrow self-serving perspective.
They are appropriately truly concerned with
how their behavior affects others. Instead, too much of their focus is on getting what they want or with validating their beliefs and views.
While humans have a capacity for egocentrism (being trapped in self-delusion, myth, and illusion), they also have a significant capacity for
reasonability (freeing themselves from self-delusion, myth, and illusion).  Mired in egocentric thinking,
MissLed women are lacking in reasonability and near full-capacity in egocentricism.  None of the feelings typically associated
with egocentricism are benevolent:
"Feelings That Accompany Egocentrism...Defensiveness, Irritability, Anger, Arrogance, Apathy, Alienation, Depression, Resentment,
Indifference." Richard Paul & Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Taking Charge of The Human Mind, (Sonoma, CA: 
Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007) 15.
A final problem with Egocentric thinking is that it often leads to Egotism Jealousy.  It stems from MissLed women's search for identity
and worth - an inappropriately acute desire for constant esteem and respect from others. If the MissLed women who feel this
emotion do not satisfy this desire, they often will feel frustrated, socially weak, and inferior.
MissLed women who think egocentrically fail to differentiate between what others are thinking
about and their own mental preoccupations.  They wrongly assume that others are obsessed with their behavior and appearance as they
are themselves. They cannot clearly identify another person's perception.
Their closed mindedness to the thoughts and ideas of others. This damages their critical thinking abilities.
"Egocentric tendencies function automatically and unconsciously. Rational tendencies arise only from active self-development
and are largely conscious." Richard Paul & Linda Elder, The Miniature Guide to Taking Charge of The Human Mind, (Sonoma, CA: 
Foundation for Critical Thinking, 2007) 14.
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What Does It Matter?
Egocentric thinking is automatic - it must be consciously struggled against to be overcome.  The
first, critical step is for MissLed women to recognize that there's a problem.
The effort to see the world from any perspective other than through their own eyes will be needed, or
else MissLed women can choose to be unable, or unwilling, to put their focus and energy into overcoming
egocentric thinking. If they don't, they are in danger of allowing their egocentric thinking into
an egocentric identity.  That would be tragic, as egocentrics exaggerate their own abilities and achievements
in order to gain recognition. They also tend to mock others, making fun of their lack of abilities in order to be
perceived as more talented than others.


"So what is rationality?  Often the term is used in a purely egocentric, evaluative
sense: "Decisions I make are "rational'; those of which I disapprove are not." Reid Hastie, Robyn M. Dawes,
Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, 16.
- In relationships, thinking of self - without taking the needs of the other into proper consideration -
breeds hurt feelings and resentments.  Positions become polarized, frozen in egocentric perspectives, often
concluding the other is wrong.
Alan Cromer, Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science, (Oxford:  Oxford U. Press, 1993)
Poor Comm: It is difficult for them to see another person's perspective on an issue
and to have understanding of a person's standpoint. Egocentrics only understand their
own point of view.
Egocentrics develop a superiority complex in order for others to accept them. Egocentrics
exaggerate their own abilities and achievements in order to gain recognition. In turn,
egocentrics will also mock others, making fun of their lack of abilities in order to be
perceived as more talented than others.






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Egocentric Mind
-Pursues selfish interests at the expense of the rights, needs and desires
of others while stunting development of the rational mind
- Seeks self-validation
- Can be inflexible (unless it can achieve its selfish interests through flexibility)
- Is selfish
- Makes global, sweeping positive or negative generalizations
- Distorts information and ignores significant information
- Reacts with negative, counterproductive emotions when it fails to
have desires met
NONEGOCENTRIC MIND
- Respects the needs and desires of others while pursuing its own needs
and desires and is motivated to develop itself, to learn, to grow intellectually
- Is flexible, adaptable
- Strives to be fair-minded
- Strives to accurately interpret information
- Strives to gather and consider all relevant information
-Reacts rationally to situations by taking charge of emotions and using
emotional energy productively
======================================================================================
"So what is rationality?  Often the term is used in a purely egocentric, evaluative
sense: "Decisions I make are "rational'; those of which I disapprove are not." Reid Hastie, Robyn M. Dawes,
Rational Choice in an Uncertain World: The Psychology of Judgment and Decision Making, 16.
- In relationships, thinking of self - without taking the needs of the other into proper consideration -
breeds hurt feelings and resentments.  Positions become polarized, frozen in egocentric perspectives, often
concluding the other is wrong.
Alan Cromer, Uncommon Sense: The Heretical Nature of Science, (Oxford:  Oxford U. Press, 1993)
Poor Comm: It is difficult for them to see another person's perspective on an issue
and to have understanding of a person's standpoint. Egocentrics only understand their
own point of view.
Egocentrics develop a superiority complex in order for others to accept them. Egocentrics
exaggerate their own abilities and achievements in order to gain recognition. In turn,
egocentrics will also mock others, making fun of their lack of abilities in order to be
perceived as more talented than others.
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We cannot improve by ignoring our bad habits,
  only by breaking them down. This requires admitting we have bad habits. And it
  requires an active self-analytic stance.
Like a
  contract with many pages of fine print that the contract writer hopes the
  reader will not explicitly understand, the egocentric mind operates to hide
  the truth about what it is actually doing. It hides the truth both from itself
  and from others, all the while representing itself as reasonable and fair.
  Rational thinking, in contrast, is justified by the giving of good reasons. It
  is not self-deceptive. It is not a cover for a hidden agenda. It is not
  trapped within one point of view when other points of view are relevant. It
  strives to gather all relevant information and is committed to
  self-consistency and integrity. Reasonable people seek to see things as they
  are, to understand and experience the world richly and fully. Reasonable
  people are actively engaged in life, willing to admit when they are wrong, and
  to learn from their mistakes. Indeed, they want to see themselves as wrong
  when they are wrong.
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