Black and white thinking

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That's how I think also. I can get very black and white if there is a topic with only a right or wrong answer. But with something like religion for example, I'm open to all ideas.

Black on a white background. Everyone else is wrong, they should be used to it, I am.

Sometimes one sneeks in, my art teacher said, try white on black paper, and she is right, there are two ways of seeing things.

I had to think a long time about this question. When picturing the future, I always imagined that I would either be fabulously rich or poor as a church-mouse, and that the world would either be a utopia or a dystopia, never anything in between. In politics too (both nationally and internationally) I tend to think of a particular faction as either “good” or “bad”. And when steeling myself for a new experience, I usually expect it to be either wonderful or horrible, never so-so. I do think in black or white, to a far bigger extent than I’ve realized.

I have a very annoying tendency of reacting in a dogmatic, black-and-white fashion to something until I have time to think it through. I'm not close-minded or anything, which is why I find the reaction so annoying.

Every time someone mentions the word "dogmatic" I get an instant image in my head of Dogmatix...

Me too, Zen Mistress!!

Seriously - I don't think any of the options apply, certainly not to me. If I go in any direction it would be extremist - but I only do that in response to extremism (perfect example on this board - anyone who even speculates that vaccines have anything to do with ASD's).

The criteria of "black and white thinking" is best put as "thinking in absolutes" (a la a Sith Warrior if you know your Star Wars). That doesn't guarentee extremism, dogmatics or the fallacy that "you agree with me or else". It may mean that to some, and fair enough, but black and white thinking takes several forms. None of them apply to me. I have had two of them (not dogmatics) planted on me, and I certainly reject the fallacy. I already explained my response to extremism.

To keep it really simple, black and white thinking is a representation of routine. Predictability. Hardly extremist, dogmatic, or "agree with me or else" stuff. Now try and muddle with the routine and make things unpredictable - and THEN you'll get a reaction along those lines.

Hope that helps a few people!

The poll options only consider black-and-white thinking as manifested in socio-political contexts. Black-and-white thinking can carry over to almost any problem domain (e.g., becoming stuck on potential solution to a problem while not considering that there may be solutions other than those presented). I prefer the term dichotomous thinking, which is less idiomatic.

Yeah, me too.
It's so much harder to imagine a moderate, "average" outcome or possible version.
Didn't mean to go off on tangent, but...

Extremes (whether appealing or aversive) are what tend to get a creature or person's attention, make an impression, and stimulate creativity. Trying to picture or describe situation that's "neither here nor there", "somewhat this, a bit of that", or the like-while probably more accurate to life's complexity & subtleties-is also greatly difficult for brain to comprehend & represent.

Thus, humans think in overly simplified symbols (esp. using words), for sake of efficiency. Otherwise, we'd get bogged down in exquisitely detailing (to get things "just right") one decision or scenario and never move forward onto next challenge. See, merely to say these things I had to exaggerate & bluntly generalize even though I know there are exceptions & qualifications which aren't properly summarized in my statements. If I say something that's perfectly moderate, balanced, even, neutral, non-extreme I end up saying nothing at all.