black and white thinking

[quiethumir]

How long does it usually take to break free from black and white thinking. This kind of thinking doesn't serve me well.

[Brutha]

There won't be one day in which you will engage in black and white thinking and after that day you won't engage in it anymore.
You will probably engage in it a bit for the rest of your life. You can however reduce the extend in which you engage in it.

[kungfoucault]

How long does it usually take to break free from black and white thinking. This kind of thinking doesn't serve me well.

Taking a purely cerebral approach to answer your question, such as reflecting on deconstructionist theory or Einstein's theory of relativity, probably won't do well either. Have you ever built a pallette of twelve colors using only three to start? Ever play that game where you're supposed to find a certain object, and the person who picked the object lets you know you're getting close to it by saying "warm, warmer, hot, boiling," or further away from it by saying "cold, ice cold, you're flash frozen like the Alps Iceman mummy?" You should try it, it's really fun.

[Michael Chui]

"black and white thinking" versus "not black-and-white thinking" is black and white thinking.

[Cado]

Originally Posted by Michael Chui

"black and white thinking" versus "not black-and-white thinking" is black and white thinking.

I was about to say.

Don't think of it like a hindrance, think about how you can use it to your advantage. When you treat black-and-white thinking as a tool it becomes a means of clarification which is primarily useful when determining a binary answer, like should I act or not? Should I stay in this relationship or not?

In the case of the latter, if you set firm criteria for both potential answers and you run down the list you'll have your answer, and it works because you're never "sort of" with someone, you're never "sort of" satisfied. Eschewing black and white thinking under that circumstance is actually a hindrance because it leaves room for all kinds of rationalizations which lead you further and further from what you really want.

When you abandon black-and-white thinking is when a situation has multiple right answers. The only way to do that is to consciously apply effort until it becomes habitual to switch into that mode of thinking when presented with something that isn't a binary yes-or-no situation.

[Cado]

As an aside, my above post relates to another helpful principle: you get a lot further by working with something you consider an undesirable trait as opposed to trying to eliminate it. Instead of stigmatizing anger, learn how to make it work for you. Instead of abandoning black-and-white thinking, look for its applications.

Everything is useful to some degree, you just have to figure out when and how.

[Angela]

Originally Posted by Illustro Cado

As an aside, my above post relates to another helpful principle: you get a lot further by working with something you consider an undesirable trait as opposed to trying to eliminate it. Instead of stigmatizing anger, learn how to make it work for you. Instead of abandoning black-and-white thinking, look for its applications.

Everything is useful to some degree, you just have to figure out when and how.

I agree! And I also had this to say about dichotomies today.