Black n white thinking vs gray thinking

So ive heard people talk about this but what does it mean? Black and white thinking? Ive thought a lot about it and I want to know what it is. Could you give some examples? I mean I think I understand but no one has really explained it well enough for me. I have an idea but I still have questions. Also im not the best at explaining my thoughts. There's more I want to say but I don't kniw how. At least not right now.

Black and White thinking is one of the Common 10 Cognitive Thinking Problems. Think 'all or nothing'. It is a failure or avoidance of thinking in between. Something will turn out either extremely positive or else be disastrous. People will accept me perfectly or think ill of me. Nothing will have a positive outcome. You are either responsibility free or totally to blame.

This extreme thinking affects our choices and behaviours. I won't bother to find work because I will fail anyway. An example of 'grey' thinking would be to acknowledge I am probably not going to perform at an ultra-high level right off but it is more likely I will perform proficiently.

Beware of words like never and always.

I have a big problem with this, to be honest.

It's really most aptly summed up like the others mentioned as all or nothing.

If I don't get 100% on this paper, I failed it.

If I don't get a 5 (out of a 5 point evaluation scale) I'm a horrible employee.

If I'm not 15 minutes early, I'm late.

If I'm not thin, I'm fat.

Does that help clear it up a little?

Well I see what you mean but I just thought that both ways of thinking can have there strength and weaknesses like if I cut something in half you would call that the gray area but there's still either something there or there isnt. Eventually you wont be able to cut something in half anymore. I just saw it as two different ways of looking at it. I dont think its all bad to use that thinking its just good to use both.

I wasnt sure what other people were saying by saying black and white but I guess I saw what they were saying. Sometimes I just need more information about something to understand it. I see why it would be bad to only use black and white thinking but I could see why it would be bad to use only grey thinking.

I kind of agree with you.

I think black and white thinking means that if you failed in something, like in a driving test, then you would label yourself as a failure, while in fact you failed in one thing. If you looked harder, probably you would find other aspects you are successful in. By the way, I just realized I use this way of thinking

Here's an article I liked about how Black and White thinking can promote your survival under certain circumstances, but can also lead to depression, if you do too much of it.

All or Nothing', or 'Black and White' Thinking and Depression

I've known people who do B or W thinking excessively. When they talk about someone, the person is either a saint or that person is the devil. They can't seem to accept that most people are a little of both. They think someone is their savior, or their mortal enemy. So they imagine that a person is such a good friend that they would die for them, or else a person is their enemy out to destroy their life. They think in extremes.

You are absolutely correct. While this is a major factor contributing to my Anxiety, I realise I have done this when depressed too. It has never really occurred to me before.

I think black and white thinking helps you to understand if something is contradicting itself but sometimes it just sounds like its contradicting itself but its acually not. Or you can think of it like this some people have senses that or more combined so they will smell colors or something and that would be a more gray area but other people senses or more split apart and that would be a more black and white way of thinking.

Again, it is either positive or negative with absolutely no in between. The resulting behaviour choice tends to be to give up.

Some of these other descriptions are great. we are getting into the other Negative Cognitive Thinking problems however.

https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&sourc...4FVq78mhwmYS5Q

Black and White Thinking is also referred to as 'All or Nothing'

Well It seems that if you use it when it comes to your emotions it can give you a negative mindset but if your doing things like math or looking at paradoxes then its good for those things.

How can you apply it to mathematics?

Well like 2+2=4 and it will always be that way. Thats a fact. I mean you could always add or subtract something more but then 2+2+1 will always be 5. Thats thinking in absolutes.

When your not using black and white thinking on your emotions I think its just seeing that there are facts. It helps you understand things better and so does gray thinking. I've been trying to use my gray thinking but I still try to use my black and white thinking as well.

Black and white thinking has nothing to do with facts. If anything, it's far from that. I gave you an example before. Black and white thinking means you think, for example, you are a bad person because you did a bad thing. It means you ignore all the good things you have done because of one bad thing. I hope it's clear now.

Yeah that makes sense. Seems pretty clear to me. I just think theres more than one way to look at it.

What do you mean "theres more than one way to look at it"?

I agree. It either is one way or another way with no other choices.

I think people are confusing Black and White Thinking with 'Emotional Reasoning' 'Mental Filtering' and 'Disqualifying the Positive'

Black and White Thinking = all or nothing (vs finding somewhere in between)
Emotional Reasoning = gut feeling (vs objective facts)
Discounting the Positive = twisting positive into negative
Mental Filtering = overlooking the positive by focussing on the negative

I had a mentor who once told me one thing he liked about me is that I'm an "all or nothing" person. What he meant was that if I decide to do something, I go all in. So sometimes, being black and white is helpful. But the majority of the time, things fall into a grey area.

Like, a co-worker makes a mistake. Black and white thinking would say they are a bad person. They are not to be trusted. They are incompetent at their job.

Grey thinking, or let's say, balanced thinking, would say: they made a mistake. It doesn't make them a bad person. They typically do very good work, and everyone makes mistakes at one point or another. They are not incompetent, this is just an opportunity for them to improve. I should not hold this against them, it's just one mistake.

Yes, there are times when we need to be very black and white. Laws are that way. The legal system is that way. But for example, ethics and morality are grey areas.

Well for example is something moving one way or the other. Maybe its staying still but then is it still or is it moving. Even if something were to move in all directions is it moving inward or outward.

Yeah it seems theres gray areas in ethics and morality but black and white is for things that don't have to do with ethics and moraliy.

Sometimes I'll try to give someone another side of looking at things and they'll say I'm thinking black and white but I was just trying to give them another way of looking at it because I thought they where being one sided.

I'm not sure if it's just me, but I will be lying if I say I understand your point.