Is it Possible to Stop being a Black and White Thinker?

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goldfish21
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07 Jun 2015, 4:23 pm

All of these things and more have changed in myself via diet/cleanses/supplements/probiotics. There's a lot more grey area to my thinking, I'm much more flexible and adaptive to change, and I'm not so stuck on routines. Everything can change and improve if you're willing to do what it takes to make it happen.


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07 Jun 2015, 5:01 pm

The only way to over-come such things as black-and-white-thinking is to bother to question everything & to also entertain the idea that what the self may currently believe is likely due to incomplete-information or potentially even completely erroneous or incomplete (and to actively seek out more diametrically opposed information to current paradigms until cognitive-dissonance becomes a welcomed experience).


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07 Jun 2015, 9:37 pm

Ban-Dodger wrote:
The only way to over-come such things as black-and-white-thinking is to bother to question everything & to also entertain the idea that what the self may currently believe is likely due to incomplete-information or potentially even completely erroneous or incomplete (and to actively seek out more diametrically opposed information to current paradigms until cognitive-dissonance becomes a welcomed experience).


Yes. This exactly.



goldfish21
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07 Jun 2015, 9:59 pm

dianthus wrote:
Ban-Dodger wrote:
The only way to over-come such things as black-and-white-thinking is to bother to question everything & to also entertain the idea that what the self may currently believe is likely due to incomplete-information or potentially even completely erroneous or incomplete (and to actively seek out more diametrically opposed information to current paradigms until cognitive-dissonance becomes a welcomed experience).


Yes. This exactly.


Still sounds like a pretty black and white binary analysis of data vs. an intuitive natural grey area of thinking live in the moment.

I used to be fairly black & white, almost robotic, in my thinking at times - back when my symptoms were strong 2-3 years ago. Now there's not only a grey area, but a whole f*****g rainbow of possibilities as my thinking is no longer so rigidly binary. If I'm tired or sick, my thinking can be a little black and white again, but for the most part being loaded up on probiotics results in an honest-to-goodness real live 50 shades of grey area thinking abilities vs. the stereotypical aspie binary thought processes.


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Rocket123
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07 Jun 2015, 10:20 pm

goldfish21 wrote:
Still sounds like a pretty black and white binary analysis of data vs. an intuitive natural grey area of thinking live in the moment.

I used to be fairly black & white, almost robotic, in my thinking at times - back when my symptoms were strong 2-3 years ago. Now there's not only a grey area, but a whole f*****g rainbow of possibilities as my thinking is no longer so rigidly binary. If I'm tired or sick, my thinking can be a little black and white again, but for the most part being loaded up on probiotics results in an honest-to-goodness real live 50 shades of grey area thinking abilities vs. the stereotypical aspie binary thought processes.

Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

I know, for me, I always try to look at things objectively/logically. If, for some reason, I have a lapse, I am not certain if I would recognize it (unless someone pointed it out to me or unless the lapse was due to being agitated).



goldfish21
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07 Jun 2015, 11:09 pm

Rocket123 wrote:
goldfish21 wrote:
Still sounds like a pretty black and white binary analysis of data vs. an intuitive natural grey area of thinking live in the moment.

I used to be fairly black & white, almost robotic, in my thinking at times - back when my symptoms were strong 2-3 years ago. Now there's not only a grey area, but a whole f*****g rainbow of possibilities as my thinking is no longer so rigidly binary. If I'm tired or sick, my thinking can be a little black and white again, but for the most part being loaded up on probiotics results in an honest-to-goodness real live 50 shades of grey area thinking abilities vs. the stereotypical aspie binary thought processes.

Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

I know, for me, I always try to look at things objectively/logically. If, for some reason, I have a lapse, I am not certain if I would recognize it (unless someone pointed it out to me or unless the lapse was due to being agitated).


It's with hindsight that I know I used to be a lot more black and white with rigid thinking and would misinterpret things or get easily agitated or miss a cue or not realize something I should have etc etc. Hell, there was a time when a friend asked me something of a loaded question - but any way I answered wouldn't have been true, so I couldn't reply.. I froze. At the time I was reading and learning a lot about AS and after a few minutes I explained why I couldn't answer him.

But now I can think and adapt on the fly live in the moment so intuitively well that I don't end up in those sorts of rigid thinking situations. I'm a lot more naturally flexible than I ever was before.


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btbnnyr
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07 Jun 2015, 11:35 pm

Analytical, precise, and often binary thinking are required for many pursuits, esp. in stem fields.
Failure to think and act this way would usually end in failures of one's pursuits and sometimes disasters.


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goldfish21
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07 Jun 2015, 11:37 pm

btbnnyr wrote:
Analytical, precise, and often binary thinking are required for many pursuits, esp. in stem fields.
Failure to think and act this way would usually end in failures of one's pursuits and sometimes disasters.


I can still think logically. By education, I'm recognized as an industrial engineering technologist. Just because I can think a lot more grey vs. black and white doesn't mean I can't do the math or analyze things anymore. To the contrary, I'm good at both.


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androbot01
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07 Jun 2015, 11:38 pm

Rocket123 wrote:
Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

You can't.
I know no one is listening, but I'm not kidding about Seroquel. Medication may be evil, but it's helped me a lot.



goldfish21
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08 Jun 2015, 12:00 am

androbot01 wrote:
Rocket123 wrote:
Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

You can't.
I know no one is listening, but I'm not kidding about Seroquel. Medication may be evil, but it's helped me a lot.


I prefer natural medicine; herbs/oils/vitamins/minerals & most importantly, probiotic baterias.


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btbnnyr
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08 Jun 2015, 12:01 am

After reading the responses, I still have no intuitive understanding of what it is like to be a black and white thinker in daily life not a computer program.
Other people seem to understand the term, but I don't understand their descriptions.
I also don't understand what not flexibly adapting thinking would be like.

Why is it called black and white as if there are two options?
It seems like really rigid people usually have just one option.


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androbot01
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08 Jun 2015, 12:03 am

goldfish21 wrote:
androbot01 wrote:
Rocket123 wrote:
Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

You can't.
I know no one is listening, but I'm not kidding about Seroquel. Medication may be evil, but it's helped me a lot.


I prefer natural medicine; herbs/oils/vitamins/minerals & most importantly, probiotic baterias.

I know. We've argued this before. But where do you draw the line between natural and unnatural? Both take human fiddling to produce the ingredient.



goldfish21
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08 Jun 2015, 12:07 am

androbot01 wrote:
goldfish21 wrote:
androbot01 wrote:
Rocket123 wrote:
Goldfish – I wonder how anyone -- “in the moment” – can ascertain if they are in a black and white thinking mode (or not).

You can't.
I know no one is listening, but I'm not kidding about Seroquel. Medication may be evil, but it's helped me a lot.


I prefer natural medicine; herbs/oils/vitamins/minerals & most importantly, probiotic baterias.

I know. We've argued this before. But where do you draw the line between natural and unnatural? Both take human fiddling to produce the ingredient.


Not really... apples to oranges.

Herbs, oils, vitamins, minerals, probiotics etc are simply extracted or refined from nature. All of them can be had in their raw natural form vs. extracted and concentrated & measured for medicinal use.

Whereas pharmaceuticals are largely synthetic chemistry lab creations & tend to have a lot more undesirable effects, side effects, and consequences - especially with long term use.


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Mahler7
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08 Jun 2015, 12:13 am

Yes and no. I've managed to get around black and white thinking by using it to try and be open-minded. "Try something once." It's become a philosophy, and I adhere to it with the same black and white or all-or-nothing thinking. It can make people think I'm open minded, and the results may suggest that's true, but the black and white thinking is still there. I guess try to use it to your advantage.



androbot01
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08 Jun 2015, 12:15 am

Both are fruits of human inquisition. "Extracted and refined from nature." How are pharmaceuticals so different?



btbnnyr
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08 Jun 2015, 12:16 am

I love pharmaceuticals, as they have done good things for me when I needed them.
My life would suck a lot more if it had not been for pharmaceuticals.


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