I guess there's sometimes a difference of degree. As somebody mentioned below, if somebody is dead set on believing himself to be correct as to ignore all the e

I guess there's sometimes a difference of degree. As somebody mentioned below, if somebody is dead set on believing himself to be correct as to ignore all the evidence to the contrary, he'll be perceived as a jerk, is in for big troubles and this is actually a common trait of depression. Also I can hardly see how "dichotomous thinking" can ever be realistic. The real world is always grey. If somebody has excellent ability in performing correct inferences and a healthy dose of self belief as he knows what he's doing and knows he has indeed accumulated more than many others trying the same thing, those can indeed be positive personality traits. So I don't think they can all be called distortions but I don't believe all of them are sane either.