Cognitive errors/ False beliefs

In cognitive therapy, cognitive errors are of massive importance. They are simply the things to work on in all cases.

I had an example of that in the subway and would like to share.
I was in the train sitting on a seat that faces the corridor. In trains or buses people always keep still and stare at the floor to avoid eye contact with others and so did I (bcs when I don't, I usually catch some yahoos' eyes which is not pleasurable :) ).

Back to the story...
While I was staring at the floor, a man's feet got my attention. They were very well-cared for, almost like he had just had a pedicure. However, his feet were firty and he was wearing a pair of cheap plastic sandals. I got curious about the guy and looked at his face. I was fascinated by the good condition of his feet but just after I looked at his face he got annoyed. He moved to the next section.

Indeed I was thinking positively of him but he got it in a wrong way. It was so obvious. How would he thought otherwise? He had cheap sandals on and I stared at his feet. I believe he would be shocked if he knew what I was thinking. So he misjudged me by thinking that I was judging him badly.

In daily life we all make this kind of errors. We believe that we are so sure about what the others are thinking. However, the truth may be very very different than our guesses. Mind reading seems to me as the most common cognitive error.

In some cases, its consequences can be harder than it was here. He moved to another place and avoided the disturbance. But when it happens with the people you give importance to, you get hurt for no reason.

I hope you will think about this when you catch yourself mind reading next time. ;)