The "Fallacy of Fairness" occurs when someone expects life to always be fair and judges every experience based on this assumption. However, since life is inherently unfair at times, this mindset can lead to feelings of anger, resentment, and hopelessness when reality doesn't meet their expectations.
Here's an example:
Original statement: "It's not fair that I worked so hard on this project and my colleague got the promotion instead of me. I'm so angry and feel like I've been cheated."
Fallacy of Fairness: This statement assumes that the world should be fair and that hard work always leads to rewards. The speaker is judging the situation based on their expectation of fairness.
Reframe: "I'm disappointed that I didn't get the promotion, but I can see that my colleague has skills and strengths that align with the company's needs. I'll focus on learning from this experience and continuing to develop my own skills, rather than getting bogged down in feelings of unfairness."
In the reframed statement, the speaker acknowledges their disappointment but lets go of the expectation of fairness. Instead, they focus on what they can control (their own skills and development) and accept that life doesn't always work out as expected.