But the thought balloon version of “Circular Reasoning 1” doesn’t quite express how much we torture our thoughts and ourselves to get our ideas of ourselves to fit. Here’s a second attempt.

A lot of logic is circular. Say I’m mean to people who I think are mean to me. That makes them upset, which lets me think, “See, they’re mean! I’m justified in being mean!”

Applies to good thoughts, too. Love can be a good kind of circular reasoning.