Thought-Terminating Clichés: The Phrases That Stop Us Thinking
You’ve probably heard them. You may have used them yourself.
“Do your own research.” “It is what it is.” “You can’t trust mainstream science.” “That’s just how the world works.”
These phrases often sound sensible, or feel like insight, realism, or healthy scepticism. But many belong to a particular category of language known as thought-terminating clichés - expressions that shut down thinking rather than encourage it.
They don’t answer questions. They end them.
What are thought-terminating clichés?
The term was coined by American psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton, who used it to describe short, emotionally charged phrases that halt complexity, ambiguity, or further discussion. Thought-terminating clichés smooth over uncertainty - not by resolving it, but by making continued inquiry feel unnecessary, naïve, or illegitimate.
Expressions such as “That’s what they want you to believe,” “Everyone’s entitled to their opinion,” or “There’s no point worrying about it” function less as arguments than as closures. They present themselves as common sense or critical thinking, while bringing other thinking itself to a stop. The conversation doesn’t end because the issue has been understood but because questioning has been ruled out.
The illusion of critical thinking
One of the most powerful aspects of thought-terminating clichés is that they often feel active and empowering.
Phrases like “Question everything” or “Think for yourself” can seem like independence and scepticism, while actually preventing examination of evidence or openness to revision. The conversation ends not because the issue has been resolved, but because further inquiry has been rendered illegitimate. And rather than metabolising discomfort or complexity, the cliché converts it into a sense of superiority or insider knowledge.
This is why these phrases are so sticky. They feel like thinking - without requiring the vulnerability that real thinking demands.
Why we use them
Thought-terminating clichés can operate as unconscious defences, shielding the speaker from uncomfortable uncertainty, or as deliberate cognitive strategies, deployed to assert authority, control dialogue, or signal allegiance to a belief system. Psychologically, they protect a closed worldview, often emerging when contradictory information threatens identity, belonging, or a sense of moral or intellectual security.
Most people don’t rely on thought-terminating clichés because they are dishonest or unintelligent. We use them because thinking deeply is uncomfortable. Some topics evoke difficult emotions such as fear, guilt, shame, or helplessness. Others unsettle our sense of being informed, moral, independent, or on the “right side” of an issue. When this happens, the mind looks for relief - and these clichés offer exactly that. They provide:
Emotional certainty in moments of ambiguity
A sense of control when things feel overwhelming
Social ease by avoiding conflict
Protection of belonging and worldview
How they differ from denial
Thought-terminating clichés can operate as unconscious defences, and as such are often confused with denial, but they function differently.
Some forms of denial, such as disavowal, do not stop thinking entirely. Instead, they split or compartmentalise difficult knowledge and feelings, allowing them to exist while limiting their emotional impact. Disavowal is knowing and not knowing at the same time. Other forms of denial may arise from overwhelm, fear, or a temporarily limited capacity to think.
Thought-terminating clichés, by contrast, actively prohibit questioning. Where disavowal leaves the door ajar, these phrases slam it shut. They do not say, “I can’t face this.” They say, “There is nothing more to think about.”
The relief they offer comes at a cost. By converting discomfort into certainty, they close down reflection, revision, and learning. The conversation ends not because understanding has been reached, but because continuing to think has been ruled out.
Where they show up
Thought-terminating clichés appear everywhere - and I am noticing them a lot more than I used to, across political divides and in everyday conversation:
On climate: “Technology will fix it.” “It’s too late anyway.”
On immigration: “We can’t help everyone.” “That’s just human nature.”
On inequality and welfare: “People just need to work harder.” “There will always be poor people.”
Each phrase sounds final. Each one avoids harder follow-up questions like why, how, or what now.
So how can we keep the thinking going?
Handling thought-terminating clichés doesn’t require confrontation or debate - and attacking them head-on often backfires. A gentler approach is simply noticing when thinking stops too neatly. You might ask:
“That's interesting - can you say what you mean by that?”
“Is that always true?”
"Can you give me an example?"
“What you say is true or could be, but what if we considered another angle?”
"I wonder, if we assumed that it wasn't true, or wholly true, what might we imagine instead?"
"I used to think exactly that. Then I discovered.... "
These small openings can turn a closed statement back into a living conversation.
Thought-terminating clichés are tempting because they promise relief. But understanding - personal or collective - usually lives on the other side of discomfort. We may not eliminate these phrases entirely, however if we can learn to recognise when and why we’re using them, we can approach them with more curiosity rather than accepting and walking away, with dismissal, resentment, irritation or humiliation left in the air.
So if this happens to you, I invite you to think, before you walk away feeling dissatisfied. What might have just happened there that stopped us from thinking? How could we restart?
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Does this resonate? Please feel free to share your experiences and strategies for managing thought-terminating clichés!
© Linda Aspey 2026