When people talk about global thinking as a cognitive distortion, they are referring to a way of thinking that overgeneralises or makes broad conclusions based on limited information.

Imagine you're baking cookies for the first time and they turn out a bit burnt. If you think to yourself, "I'm terrible at baking," that's an example of this global thinking cognitive distortion. Just because you messed up one batch of cookies doesn't mean you're terrible at baking overall. But in the heat of the moment, your mind makes a big, sweeping conclusion based on a single event.

This kind of thinking can be damaging because it doesn't take into account all the other factors that may have contributed to a situation. Maybe the oven temperature was too high, or you left the cookies in for too long. By thinking in global terms like "I'm terrible at baking," you miss out on these nuances, and it can lead to negative feelings about yourself or the situation.

So, in this context, global thinking isn't about seeing the bigger picture or considering the world at large. Instead, it's about overgeneralising and seeing things in black-and-white terms based on limited information.