7 ms·

I thought the correct term is „rationalize“, but that would only be the (probably flawed) translation from German.

by manmal 4y ago

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 4y ago
That's not a bad word, either, FWIW. I'd say it's both, with confabulating being the particular method of rationalization.
maxbond 4y ago
Rationalize would work too. Confabulate communicates some interesting nuances, at least for me, about how this is a creative or synthetic process, whereas when I think of someone rationalizing something, it feels more deliberate and mechanical to me.
- manmal 4y ago
  AFAIK rationalization is basically the bridging of cognitive dissonance. From that perspective it doesn’t seem to be deliberate.
  - maxbond 4y ago
    Maybe deliberate is too strong a word, or maybe I'm using a loose definition of rationalization. I've observed rationalizations that I think were a choice, but not necessarily a conscious or considered choice. When I find myself rationalizing I feel like it often bubbles up and then I choose to push it back down (at least, until I'm ready to admit to myself this is happening, and face the consequences). There's two people from my past who I think of. One was a conspiracy theorist who moved fluidly and rapidly from one idea to the next, and these ideas were often contradictory. It was a live, synthetic process; they were connecting the dots of different conspiracy theories on the fly. If you pointed out a contradiction to them, they'd spin a new yarn to resolve it on the spot. This is what confabulation reminds me of. There was no destination; it was a dance through fanciful ideas. That's what feels less deliberate to me, it wasn't so much providing a justification or bridging a cognitive dissonance as much as storytelling. (They once told me their epistemology was basically founded in the emotional impact of a story; they believed they had a sort of "truthiness sense" and that what moved them was what was true.) If it were a science fiction story it would have been riveting, but as an epistemology it really limited their ability to understand the world and have relationships. Another is a friend who I had some difficult conversations with about their behavior, and after some heated discussion I finally got through to them, at least in part. But then the very next day they told me a brand new reason for why they thought their behavior was okay (it wasn't). And that felt like a choice to me. They wanted to do something, and they found a frame of thinking where it was permissible. They definitely bridged a cognitive dissonance, and I don't think they set out to do what they did, but I feel at some level they made a choice. That being said, I think when I rationalize it's often something along the lines of, "what I'm doing is hurting me, but I can't stop because someone is counting on me to do it," and that's only a choice by the strictest definition. And I can see how my friend might've seen things that way too.
harperlee 4y ago
Nitpick: latin.

I thought the correct term is „rationalize“, but that would only be the (probably flawed) translation from German.

by manmal 4y ago

I thought the correct term is „rationalize“, but that would only be the (probably flawed) translation from German.

That's not a bad word, either, FWIW. I'd say it's both, with confabulating being the particular method of rationalization.

maxbond 4y ago

Rationalize would work too. Confabulate communicates some interesting nuances, at least for me, about how this is a creative or synthetic process, whereas when I think of someone rationalizing something, it feels more deliberate and mechanical to me.

manmal 4y ago
AFAIK rationalization is basically the bridging of cognitive dissonance. From that perspective it doesn’t seem to be deliberate.
- maxbond 4y ago
  Maybe deliberate is too strong a word, or maybe I'm using a loose definition of rationalization. I've observed rationalizations that I think were a choice, but not necessarily a conscious or considered choice. When I find myself rationalizing I feel like it often bubbles up and then I choose to push it back down (at least, until I'm ready to admit to myself this is happening, and face the consequences). There's two people from my past who I think of. One was a conspiracy theorist who moved fluidly and rapidly from one idea to the next, and these ideas were often contradictory. It was a live, synthetic process; they were connecting the dots of different conspiracy theories on the fly. If you pointed out a contradiction to them, they'd spin a new yarn to resolve it on the spot. This is what confabulation reminds me of. There was no destination; it was a dance through fanciful ideas. That's what feels less deliberate to me, it wasn't so much providing a justification or bridging a cognitive dissonance as much as storytelling. (They once told me their epistemology was basically founded in the emotional impact of a story; they believed they had a sort of "truthiness sense" and that what moved them was what was true.) If it were a science fiction story it would have been riveting, but as an epistemology it really limited their ability to understand the world and have relationships. Another is a friend who I had some difficult conversations with about their behavior, and after some heated discussion I finally got through to them, at least in part. But then the very next day they told me a brand new reason for why they thought their behavior was okay (it wasn't). And that felt like a choice to me. They wanted to do something, and they found a frame of thinking where it was permissible. They definitely bridged a cognitive dissonance, and I don't think they set out to do what they did, but I feel at some level they made a choice. That being said, I think when I rationalize it's often something along the lines of, "what I'm doing is hurting me, but I can't stop because someone is counting on me to do it," and that's only a choice by the strictest definition. And I can see how my friend might've seen things that way too.

harperlee 4y ago

Nitpick: latin.