a slang term for the mental ability that can be very effective in dealing with cognitive dissonance
A Bible researcher can do mental gymnastics to convince himself the timbers he found in a snowy Russian mountain were remains of Noah's Ark.
by robbie38903849 June 18, 2008
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a miraculous mental process of weaving intricate threads of reasoning in complex, tangential, and often contradictory ways to give the mental gymnast the illusion that they has resolved the cognitive dissonance stemming from objective facts debunking their firmly held beliefs, thereby allowing the mental gymnast to continue on with life still holding onto the flawed beliefs while still acknowledging the objective facts.
Person1: God is the creator of EVERYTHING, all knowing, all good, and present in all things everywhere at all times.

Person2: So then if people are evil, then at least one of those divine attributes must be false.

Person1: No, because of the concept of freewill.

Person2: Dude, now that there is some MENTAL GYMNASTICS.
by zerO_One March 15, 2017
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The mental ability to distort the truth even in the face of overwhelming facts
When presented with factual data that President Obama is an American and not a Muslim, the Trump supporters performed all sorts of mental gymnastics to deny the truth.
by deenw September 19, 2016
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The act of believing something so profoundly stupid and illogical, it requires creating a new word in the English language.

See Also: Donald Trump
President Trump won the Olympic gold medal in mental gymnastics.
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A phrase used by those who cannot handle analytical thinking and can only handle simple thinking and simple explanations. Mental gymnastics is required to figure out difficult questions and topics.
I cannot understand what you’re explaining. I’ll just accuse you of using mental gymnastics because I think that will help me win the debate.
by EvilSatanWorshipper April 27, 2019
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A phrase used by those who cannot handle analytical
thinking and can only handle simple thinking and simple
explanations. Mental gymnastics is required to figure out
difficult questions and topics.
Normal people: God is real he created everything
Atheists: wrong and I have nothing to prove it
Normal people: bruh that's some serious Mental gymnastics because you'll still die
by Atheistsarelyingtothemselvs November 13, 2020
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A phrase used by those who cannot handle analytical
thinking and can only handle simple thinking and simple
explanations. Atheist Mental gymnastics is required to figure out
difficult questions and topics.
Normal people: God is real he created everything
Atheists: wrong and I have nothing to prove it
Normal people: bruh that's some serious Atheist Mental gymnastics because you'll still die
by Atheistsarelyingtothemselvs November 13, 2020
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