Rationalizing anything: ask participants questions like “why did you have that cake?” or even “yesterday, you hit your kid. Why?”. These questions should not be based on reality, and the instructor(s) should probably do the first two or three rounds themselves to get people used to these kinds of questions. Despite the fact that the facts are blatantly false, the participant should come up with a reason that sounds as impressive as possible. (“Yes, I hit my child yesterday. Fourteen generations of Smiths have been brought up that way and gone on to be successful businessman, politicians and lawyers; I’ll be damned if I let some wishy-washy state nanny tell me what to do.”)
This may teach people to recognize rationalizations in themselves and others.
Rationalizing anything: ask participants questions like “why did you have that cake?” or even “yesterday, you hit your kid. Why?”. These questions should not be based on reality, and the instructor(s) should probably do the first two or three rounds themselves to get people used to these kinds of questions. Despite the fact that the facts are blatantly false, the participant should come up with a reason that sounds as impressive as possible. (“Yes, I hit my child yesterday. Fourteen generations of Smiths have been brought up that way and gone on to be successful businessman, politicians and lawyers; I’ll be damned if I let some wishy-washy state nanny tell me what to do.”)
This may teach people to recognize rationalizations in themselves and others.