In education, theory says that the generation of misconceptions is a natural part of learning. As the brain receives new data, it generates lots of hypotheses, and only with further data are these narrowed down and the misconceptions discarded. With lack of thought or limited, narrow, biassed or unlucky data, a misconception can get accidently confirmed as being useful (perhaps because it is true, for a limited domain), and then it resides, rattling around inside the brain, until it is sufficiently challenged and a more attractive replacement offered.
I noticed myself doing a spot of internal clarification a couple of days ago. I was putting off going out, and considering posting a long reply to something on a website, when my web browser crashed. "That's an omen" I thought, and proceeded to get ready.
And then something inside me rebelled. "Soggy thinking!" it said to me, "You are being mentally lazy.", and so as I carried on getting ready, I did a bit of a review about omens, and superstitions, and what I meant, and what I ought to have meant and have said to myself, rather than terming it an omen. In short, I cleaned house - I practiced mental hygiene, cleaning concepts that had got a bit mouldy through neglect, just like a dental hygienist gives teeth a good flossing to removed caked-on debris that detracts from the tooth's usefulness and reliability.
Is this something other people do or have observed themselves doing?
Are there concepts, or terms, that you know that you regularly misuse through convenience? I'm talking here about things you used to use with precision and rigour, and that you now shy away from thinking about for reasons of comfort?
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