Dichotomous Thinking: to only focus on the extremes and excludes everything that is in-between.
Psychology Corner
There's a comfort in black and white thinking. It draws a solid line of what is true, and what is false. And in a world full of an overwhelming amount of information it is a tempting comfort.
I was looking at the headlines today, and it struck me again how much we depend on simplification to function. And how much of a detriment it is to us and our society. How some people will spurn good things, only because it was the other group's idea or because they want to differentiate themselves from said other group. How much richer would our lives and relationships be if we embraced even a little bit more nuance? If we realized that the extra effort is necessary to be fair not only to others, but to ourselves?
Sometimes I crave nuance with a feverish intensity. An argument with my husband turns into an odd battleground of him trying to prove I am always wrong and never right. I don't want to be right. I just want us both to work things out. I want to see headlines where both major political parties are having healthy discussions and playing off each others strengths. I want people to stop accusing people who don't get promotions as lacking grit. As if a billionaire's hours per week were what ensured their success. I want people to stop being toxic about weight. Calories in and calories out is simplistic and harmful, as our bodies are an intricate set of systems, working under the rules of a lifestyle we lost millenia ago. I want us to stop judging and blaming and just for once... start fixing. To stop tossing aside every beautful thing that we feel would be an inconvenience to nurture and give the grace of nuance to. I know I am silly and I think too much and I am naive. But I get so very tired of skimming the surface, ever so lightly, for the hubris of keeping people comfortable in their echo chambers and their self-inflicted victimhood.
The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
– Oscar Wilde (The Importance of Being Earnest)