Creating cognitive errors is a major weapon when it comes to bullying. Now what is a cognitive error? A cognitive error can be summed up as the lies or delusions we tell ourselves in our minds that can cause mental distress. Some examples include jumping to conclusions and mind reading.
For this particular post though I will be focusing on mental filters and magnification. I will focus on these since they were seen in the latest book, The Flying Ace.
The cognitive error of the mental filter is where a person picks out the single negative issue and focus on it. Magnification is where you blow things out of proportion. With Lexi in The Flying Ace, her mental filter was focusing on her ears and viewing herself as ugly because of one feature. Her magnification was how she blew that one characteristic out of proportion, viewing it as a terrible thing even though it wasn’t that big of a deal.
Now what did I mean earlier when I said that these are weapons with bullying? If the bully tries to hurt you with their words, which is worse, if they say it and you think it’s a lie, or if you let yourself think it’s the truth?
That is what hurt Lexi in The Flying Ace, she let herself believe. She let them create these cognitive errors within her mind, letting them control how she thought of herself. This is the greatest form of power when it comes to bullying, controlling how the bullied person thinks. After a while they don’t even need to try anymore because you will just bully yourself.
The positive point here is that the only way the bully can get this power is if the person they’re bullying gives them that power. The bullied person gets to decide whether or not they believe their bully. They have the power, they decide whether they keep it or give it away. I suppose that is the only way to solve the bullying issue, teach people to not hand over the power they already possess.