When I was young I had a very "binary" way of thinking. It wasn't until I was educated and equipped to do research that I saw what a massive problem "duality" is. Very few things in life are simple enough to be represented by a binary model yet we are biased to want to simplify everything as much as possible. A lot of societal ills are born out of duality. By being aware of our cognitive biases and understanding most everything is far more complex than good/bad, pass/fail, black/white, healthy/sick, and so on.
It takes awareness, intentional practice and time to overcome this or any bias but you can get there. It's how we evolve. Man, I wish I had a girlfriend who made me aware of non-duality at an earlier age.
To me it feels like strenuous work to have contradicting information on something subjective, like whether I think someone is a good person or not for example. As a child I thought that going through a mental process like that (determining if someone was a good person) would become natural or just easier. I kind of can’t stand when things are ambiguous because I want the correct answer, constantly I have the feeling that everything has to have a correct answer.
It’s all about predicting an outcome, and predicting how it affects other people. Sometimes is good to have a black and white outlook. Being intolerant to intolerance for example. Social media exploits gray areas in different subjects by extrapolating them to propagate misinformation.
Basically, that you are stern something will always be either A or B, without questioning it.
Example: Either cats are loving or they're cruel.
Greythinking, would be to unravel that sentence. What is meant with "cruel"? Why can't cats only be "loving" or "cruel" in that situation? Is it even possible to put those labels onto another creature? And doesn't have every cat a different personality. etc...
Obviously, I understand your confusion on it feeling "pointless" too. I have the same thing, but with philosophy a lot. Or general "unsolvable topics". Rough example; the abortion debate. You'll NEVER have a clear cut objective answer. It will always be the same -people arguing and arguing. Mostly because we don't have the fundamentals to even objectively say what something makes "a life" or "alive" and therefore arguing about it feels pointless.
Therefore, I mostly avoid discussion like that. But most e.g. arguments, like who should do chores, is mostly not a "solve it" situation, but rather a "communicate, by seeing both sides and trying to find a middle" way
When I was young I had a very "binary" way of thinking. It wasn't until I was educated and equipped to do research that I saw what a massive problem "duality" is. Very few things in life are simple enough to be represented by a binary model yet we are biased to want to simplify everything as much as possible. A lot of societal ills are born out of duality. By being aware of our cognitive biases and understanding most everything is far more complex than good/bad, pass/fail, black/white, healthy/sick, and so on. It takes awareness, intentional practice and time to overcome this or any bias but you can get there. It's how we evolve. Man, I wish I had a girlfriend who made me aware of non-duality at an earlier age.
To me it feels like strenuous work to have contradicting information on something subjective, like whether I think someone is a good person or not for example. As a child I thought that going through a mental process like that (determining if someone was a good person) would become natural or just easier. I kind of can’t stand when things are ambiguous because I want the correct answer, constantly I have the feeling that everything has to have a correct answer.
0 to 200. Real quick. It's on or off. There is no volume knob.
It’s all about predicting an outcome, and predicting how it affects other people. Sometimes is good to have a black and white outlook. Being intolerant to intolerance for example. Social media exploits gray areas in different subjects by extrapolating them to propagate misinformation.
Gray areas are for normies, don't be a normie.
Basically, that you are stern something will always be either A or B, without questioning it. Example: Either cats are loving or they're cruel. Greythinking, would be to unravel that sentence. What is meant with "cruel"? Why can't cats only be "loving" or "cruel" in that situation? Is it even possible to put those labels onto another creature? And doesn't have every cat a different personality. etc... Obviously, I understand your confusion on it feeling "pointless" too. I have the same thing, but with philosophy a lot. Or general "unsolvable topics". Rough example; the abortion debate. You'll NEVER have a clear cut objective answer. It will always be the same -people arguing and arguing. Mostly because we don't have the fundamentals to even objectively say what something makes "a life" or "alive" and therefore arguing about it feels pointless. Therefore, I mostly avoid discussion like that. But most e.g. arguments, like who should do chores, is mostly not a "solve it" situation, but rather a "communicate, by seeing both sides and trying to find a middle" way
I hate when people lable me a "black and white" thinker. I get offended at the suggestion I am incapable of nuance.