Fantasy traps you in a Self-referential world
There is a way to notice it, eliminate cognitive distortions and collapse the internal dialogue.
Unlike perception, imagination does not depend on external sensory information derived from what a person can see, hear, taste, or touch in the present. Instead, it is generated by internal sensations that are consciously represented in different ways depending on the purpose. Imagination can be defined as the visualization of abstract cognitive processes. It is useful in predicting outcomes and developments of circumstances that we cannot directly perceive. When it gets out of control, beyond the limits within which it should function, the noble aspect of this cognitive ability turns into fantasy.
Before explaining the reasons for this statement, it is useful to consider another indispensable faculty with which we process information: metacognition. This is the ability to create meanings from other meanings; we can create new meanings and new perceptions by modifying internal perceptions, or in other words, our own imagination. Imagination always refers to our own internal sensations used with knowledge in a variety of cognitive processes, including planning, hypothetical reasoning, correlating experiences, and understanding language.
These are often controlled or modified by the creation of actual daydreams or nightmares that can condition our present perceptions and decisions. This is perhaps clearest in ordinary dreams, where our minds create an entire reality capable of absorbing our attention and leading us to have real, completely abstract experiences.
The two natural limits of the mind are not to be crossed.
Without proper attention, fantasy can replace our perception of ourselves and project us into an unreal world. Fantasy makes the mind limitless when it overcomes the first of the two natural limits of mind and fantasy, purpose. When the transformation of sensations into abstract cognitive processes through visualization becomes a habit, it is automatically triggered, activated without purpose, processing information without control, changing and creating new perceptions that can superimpose themselves on reality.
Always give direction and purpose to your imagination and thoughts. Try to avoid daydreaming as much as possible, always checking what you have imagined and asking yourself at each logical step, “How do I know?” You will find that the habit of falling into fantasy already limits your ability to perceive your surroundings and your experiences correctly. The implications are profound and can be summed up in one sentence: the first major obstacle to well-being and happiness is the inability to set realistic expectations for yourself.
Available information versus addiction and compulsion.
Many people believe that fantasy plays a beneficial role in their lives by bringing desired situations into the present or thus stimulating their achievement. However, this habit leads to unknowingly confusing fantasy with perception. This happens more often than we think, and often leads to anxiety and fear. It happens whenever we find ourselves, unwillingly and unable to stop it, experiencing in the present supposedly future situations.
For better or for worse, fantasies are almost never able to prepare us for what we are about to face; they almost never come to pass as we have perceived them to be, causing us to miss out on what we can experience in the present moment.
Fantasy alters the present by making us react to an imaginary situation as if it were real, and to a real feeling in an imaginary way. Fantasy makes the mind obsessive when it exceeds the second of the two natural limits of the mind and imagination, available information.
Fantasy is able to create a discrepancy with reality, even when our real perception of a sensation is projected into an unreal image or action. The need for a particular action can become extreme and compulsive when a connection is made between a real sensation and a fantasy.
Always try to recall the feeling that created the “need” for a certain type of action and consider whether it compels you to do a certain type of action, thought, or consideration. What is your ability to mediate, and what is the real benefit to you?
Second, you will notice how the fantasy displaces you in space and time by making you believe that you have actually perceived and thus acquired information that you objectively cannot have. Check to see if the available information you are referring to on the mental plane comes from an actual or verifiable experience.
This is also the basis of disinformation, misconceptions, and generalizations, a classic example of which is fantasy masquerading as empathy: sometimes we believe that we can know what others are thinking or doing, what they are feeling or will feel under certain circumstances, and therefore what their intentions are.
It’s important to accept your mind limits: remember, the greater your ability to not have or create realistic expectations, the greater your understanding of reality and present, the greater your well-being and efficacy, whether those expectations are positive or negative.
Bringing the Internal Dialogue down
Internal dialog often becomes obsessive. That is, it is activated uncontrollably and against our will. When we find ourselves mentally talking to imaginary characters, often in the guise of familiar people, we are unable to distinguish fantasy from reality. We suffer the emotional consequences of the surreal scenes, becoming exalted or angry, sad, frightened, vengeful, etc.
Fantasy in the form of an internal dialog can become a problem, primarily because it prevents us from experiencing and accepting the emotions and feelings we are engaging in. A censorship of the present that insidiously distorts our experiences and relationships.
Internal dialog always crosses the two boundaries of the mind. Without them, it would simply be the memory of an interaction that actually took place. Any internal dialogue is fueled by illusion and habit, and not only that, it's also a great and unnecessary source of dissatisfaction. If you pay attention, the internal dialog leads you to modify the present, always with a negative result: whether the fantasy contains pleasant emotions or not, it is always about something you do not have.
