Projection of Rationality

A cognitive bias where one projects the claim of rationality onto one's own thinking while denying it to others—assuming that one's own conclusions are the product of pure reason while others' are driven by emotion, ideology, or irrationality. Projection of rationality operates when someone says "I'm being rational, you're being emotional"; when they present their own views as logical and others' as illogical; when they cannot see the values and assumptions embedded in their own reasoning. The projection lies in the invisibility of one's own irrationalities—the assumption that one's own cognitive processes are transparent and pure while others' are opaque and contaminated. It's a form of intellectual narcissism, the belief that one's own mind works the way minds should work while others' are broken.

Example: "He presented every conclusion as the result of pure logic while dismissing her reasoning as emotional—projection of rationality, assuming his values were just reason while hers were just feeling."

by Dumu The Void March 19, 2026