Do you tend to think in "Black and White"?

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I read somewhere that most aspies think in "Black and White." That is, they think in terms of opposites (Good/bad. Sad/happy. Big/small, etc) and fail to see the areas in between.

I personally think that's nonsense.

Last edited by Mw99 on 21 Nov 2007, 11:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

It depends wether you are talking about emotions or not.

My emotions are very black and white. There is no sort of happy, or sort of sad. I am either coasting which is most of the time, and not feeling anything at all, or I am feeling one definitive emotion. In this way I can see how NT's would think that, as they seem to exist somewhere in the middle most of the time, feeling this and that and everything else all the time.

There are definatly things that I dont think black and white about at all, I see very little room for the extremes in the world and most people fall on a sliding scale somewhere between two poles, and this is a concept I find many of the NT's I know struggle with.

In terms of ethics, there is just black and white, expressed as right and wrong. I don't lie, cheat, or steal.

The thing I have trouble with is the "all or nothing" mentality, that you are the best or the worst, with nothing in between.

Yeah, there's rarely a "gray area" for me.

I have a very "black and white" way of thinking. The shades of everyday life do not really exist for me.

Just because I think that way does not necessarily mean I can not tolerate people that are different.

what you consider "right" might be "wrong" for someone else and viceversa.

Yes. This is why I try not to impose my own moral code on others.

It could be true for some and not true for others. Not all aspies are exactly alike.

I've been told I see things in black in white.

Explain better. It's confusing.

My emotions tend to be grey, as do my actions.

However, I do tend to be a black and white thinker in most situations. If it's wrong, it's wrong, no matter what other circumstances there might be.

I think some NT's think in black and white terms, but some do not. The ones that do are the ones who are perhaps more vocal about it and thus give us the impression that they all do. Ironically, maybe the reason you feel that NT's think this way and Aspies do not, could be evidence of you having a "black and white" opinion of your own. Even if it's only about who thinks in black and white and who does not.

I think it varies from person to person and even then, from situation to situation.

Is that what it means? I always interpreted to have a meaning such as the phrase has in the statement 'science is black and white' rather than in a either good or bad etc sense.

I certainly prefer to work with facts (rather than feelings) and this is what I always understood was meant by the phrase. I actually struggle with concepts like good and bad (and with normative concepts generally). I know what is pleasant to me and what is repulsive but I know that others differ from me in regards to what is pleasant or repulsive to them. Good and bad concepts assume some universal pre-existing normative standard where, by definition, normative concepts are local and constructed.

I know my right and wrong (which will always be right and wrong), the thing is, I don't care if it's right or wrong to the majority and their ideal right and wrong; this is the black and white thinking they're talking of.

My thoughts are in color, just FYI and all.

I voted yes, but now I'm confused.

I think this is a matter finding the truth. Only the truth is black and white, if you can see it. And that must be the question.

Its ironic that asking such a simple question could stump us all. It also makes perfect sense that your results are so mixed. If someone asks you a question and you don't know the answer, you would be smart to say "I don't know. "
Funny thing is, if you know when to label something "gray", then you must be thinking in black and white...

Now: Do you see absolute truth in everything?

Instead: Do you enjoy finding the absolute truth in everything?

The irony is overwhelming.

Yes. A bit too much, I think.

I think about some things in Black and White.....or better, I like the term binary thinking. There is no middle ground. But then sometimes, I say to myself wait a minute. There has to be some middle area. It's that the middle area isn't safe, because it calls for interpretation. I'm getting better at that, but it has taken me years and years.
btdt