Black or White?

[Sportster]

. . .

 

[King_Oni]

I'm not really sure what black and white thinking is I guess... and maybe I'm like you in the sense that I think that this is supposed to be the way to think. I guess I think in absolutes, but with that, I also stick with these choices. Something that can't be said about a lot of people that supposedly deal with "the grey in between".

I sometimes wonder if having a grey area, isn't in fact a liability.

 

[Ylva]

I'm a colour spectrum thinker… There are so many categories to put things into. They are colour-coded.

That said, I detest moral relativism. Can't those people ever stick with anything?

 

[wyverary]

It depends on the issue. Going too far in either direction can be a lazy way out. As the saying goes, "Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out." I like to think I always temper my opinions with critical scrutiny, but let's face it?none of us does that as much as we maybe should.

That said, there are things that basic human decency requires or forbids, so I echo Ylva's distaste for moral relativism.

 

[Neat Hedgehog]

I suppose I tend to do that. Maybe it makes me worse because sometimes I will recognize that something is what people would classify as a "wrong" thing to do, and then I will go ahead and do it anyway because I just don't care. Typically this only involves things that most people would probably try to classify as being in a "gray zone" which I think is just a cop out; I know that people will think what I did was "wrong" and I'm not going to try to convince them otherwise, because according to their standards, yes, it was.

I tend only to classify things as being "wrong" if the disadvantages outweigh the advantages of the action, and / or there are better recognizable alternatives in which case I will not choose the action I feel is "wrong" but the one I choose may still be "wrong" according to others.

The example that comes to mind that I have told people before:

Say someone with a knife tries to mug me. Somehow, I manage to get the upper hand and he winds up unconscious. I would go through his stuff and take anything valuable and stash it somewhere before I called the cops. That'd be stealing, which would be "wrong," and I know it is, but it seems only fair. After all, if I lost he'd take all my stuff, so I think it's only fair that he be willing to put up the same stakes in the event he lost. I won't try to pretty that up and say it's a "gray zone" because it's very obviously not.

 

[Val2]

Yes, I'm definitely a black and white thinker. My therapist, family, and friends have ALL said this exact phrase, "everything is black and white to you, but not everything is black and white, there's also gray". Makes me upset because I feel like the gray area never seems logical. For instance, if a friend is ignoring me, it's because they're upset with me. But not to gray thinkers, they will make excuses like, "maybe they lost their phone." To me, that is just naive thinking and it frustrates me. And yes, sure, maybe they did lose their phone but usually that's not the case.

 

[King_Oni]

Yes, I'm definitely a black and white thinker. My therapist, family, and friends have ALL said this exact phrase, "everything is black and white to you, but not everything is black and white, there's also gray". Makes me upset because I feel like the gray area never seems logical. For instance, if a friend is ignoring me, it's because they're upset with me. But not to gray thinkers, they will make excuses like, "maybe they lost their phone." To me, that is just naive thinking and it frustrates me. And yes, sure, maybe they did lose their phone but usually that's not the case.

If the world would resolve on "maybe" we wouldn't have made the progress we made thus far. I think a lot of progress made in history actually happened because of a sold yes or solid no. Of course, there's a lot of situations where no one knew the outcome, but still... it was a solid yes. A "maybe" stagnates any motion. It's like sitting around and keep wondering what might have happened.

 

[Ste11aeres]

Black and white seems to mean knowing exactly how a thing is (or thinking you know.) Grey seems to just mean being somewhat confused. Black and white is ideal if you actually are right about the thing in question, but if you truly don't know the facts of something, it is good to know you are ignorant (grey).

 

[Ylva]

Right, Ste11aeres, statements are either true or false. That, or they are still too complex and must be dissembled further for proper analysis.

 

[Aalo]

I don't really understand nor care for metaphor of colors. My thoughts are just verbalized matters of thoughts. So I guess you have me as gray, but there are so many exceptions to it, that it's not that simple!

Oh, well. Even that I might have strong opinions over many matters and can be tough to been spoke out of those, I tend try to think things from many points of view until stating my mind aloud. And I've heard a lot that I'm indecisive - maybe while my thought process in still not ready, yes, but also after I have made my mind I am still open on discussing the other possibilities, because I have no reason to think I'd be reached the only one right conclusion.
I like to be able to speak about anything and no topic should be forbidden by some rule that can't be reasoned. Also, imho things just can't be discussed in an argumentative manner if we're not capable of creating hypothetical conclusions over things, even some that we don't see as best solutions at the time. I think it's just a sentiment of a person generally interested having a realistic view over life, world, not just some truths some people made up and of which I might not be even aware of.

I don't agree with moral-anything, as I find meaning of moral itself unfinished in every concept I've tried to understand it at. It doesn't mean that I'd be at discomfort and not knowing what to do in my life.

Feel free to execute me now.

 

[wyverary]

If the world would resolve on "maybe" we wouldn't have made the progress we made thus far. I think a lot of progress made in history actually happened because of a sold yes or solid no. Of course, there's a lot of situations where no one knew the outcome, but still... it was a solid yes. A "maybe" stagnates any motion. It's like sitting around and keep wondering what might have happened.

Progress, perhaps, but arguably a much greater amount of regress. It depends on the conclusion that was reached, and HOW it was reached. But I think I get what you are saying, in that indecision usually results in "nothing" rather than "something."

I don't really understand nor care for metaphor of colors. My thoughts are just verbalized matters of thoughts. So I guess you have me as gray, but there are so many exceptions to it, that it's not that simple!

Oh, well. Even that I might have strong opinions over many matters and can be tough to been spoke out of those, I tend try to think things from many points of view until stating my mind aloud. And I've heard a lot that I'm indecisive - maybe while my thought process in still not ready, yes, but also after I have made my mind I am still open on discussing the other possibilities, because I have no reason to think I'd be reached the only one right conclusion.
I like to be able to speak about anything and no topic should be forbidden by some rule that can't be reasoned. Also, imho things just can't be discussed in an argumentative manner if we're not capable of creating hypothetical conclusions over things, even some that we don't see as best solutions at the time. I think it's just a sentiment of a person generally interested having a realistic view over life, world, not just some truths some people made up and of which I might not be even aware of.

I don't agree with moral-anything, as I find meaning of moral itself unfinished in every concept I've tried to understand it at. It doesn't mean that I'd be at discomfort and not knowing what to do in my life.

Feel free to execute me now.

I agree. I think if you go into an argument already thinking in black and white, you will get nowhere. There is no excuse for closed-mindedness. Perhaps that is what I meant by historical "regress." Just because the end result could be a solid conclusion does not mean that one should not give careful thought to the issue. And further, I think from time to time one should always be willing to re-examine the conclusions they have already drawn. Unwavering resolve is a very bad idea in most things.

 

[King_Oni]

Progress, perhaps, but arguably a much greater amount of regress. It depends on the conclusion that was reached, and HOW it was reached. But I think I get what you are saying, in that indecision usually results in "nothing" rather than "something.".

That was exactly what I was getting at... I just failed to get that across in a minimum amount of words XD

 

[Mellotron]

I usually tend to weigh out two sides to something before making a decision on my opinion. I guess I'm more grey area in that sense but once I've made up my mind then I'm black or white on it. There is not too much chance of convincing me in an argument once my mind is made up, but before then I'm pretty open to all sides.