Binary Thinking: This Is Something You Want To Avoid

Splitting, also known as binary or black-and-white thinking or all-or-nothing thinking, is the failure in your thinking to bring together the dichotomy of both negative and positive qualities into a cohesive whole. It is a mechanism where we think in extremes—right or wrong, black or white, good or bad—contrasted to realistic thinking that seeks a middle ground. Splitting causes people to “split” their mind, making them unable to see between good and bad.

Binary thinking can be seen as early as childhood development. It’s a way of thought, exacerbated by various mental disorders like bipolar or borderline personality. All-or-nothing thinking is a problem. It distorts your understanding of reality, since almost nothing is entirely bad or good. The world is complicated and nuanced, it operates in shades of gray, not black and white. There’s a reason for why every argument has a Goldilocks zone—the perfect place to be—situated somewhere in the middle, not on either extreme. There’s a Goldilocks zone in personality, skill, talent, capability, taste, belief, and pretty much every other complex, human endeavor and quality.

To better visualize a soi-disant Goldilocks zone, consider the individual. Scales are handy tools to put this into practice because they allow numbers to supplement our usual reliance on words. Think for a minute which you would rather be: cowardly or reckless, miserly or wasteful, passive or aggressive, insecure or shameless, attention-seeking or socially withdrawn, eccentric or closed-minded, gullible or manipulative, irresponsible or perfectionist? See, these are all negative personality traits because they are on the extremes. In the same order, the positive alternatives reside somewhere in the middle: courageous, thrifty, assertive, with a medium level of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. Neither extreme is any good. The closer to the gray area, the better.

That exercise works great because it reveals to you the spatial nature present in most of life. You force your brain to think in terms of a spectrum, not in an all-or-nothing manner. The same applies to, say, actions as well. The extremes are opposition versus mindless obedience. The middle grounds is cooperation. The extremes are independence versus compliance. The gray area is collaboration. The extremes are a trouble-maker versus a brown-noser. The balance is following through with the program as it is, respectfully. In essence, everything prospers in balance. Don’t avoid work, but don’t be afraid to ask for help, either. Don’t be lazy and dependent, but don’t be recklessly independent, either. Don’t tell yourself your boss hates you when they critique you, but don’t tell yourself it’s nothing, either. Don’t ignore past mistakes, but don’t obsessively dwell on them, either.

Real life implications of splitting:

• Parenting: as parents, we might fall for regarding our children as “good” or “bad”, and over time, this can create shame for mistakes; reframe their behavior as “needing improvement” instead;

• Business: companies frequently label their decision-makers with nomenclature like “risk-averse” and “risk-taking”, which could ignore balanced approaches like taking calculated risks; define extremes then explore hybrid strategies—instead of, say, not marketing at all, invest half the sum you supposed is the extreme;

• Interpersonal relationships: you could view disagreements as “they are with me” or “they are against me”, when the reality is not so polarized; recognize where the two of you align, somewhere in the middle, perhaps by employing a conflict resolution diagram;

• Education: a student could perceive their exam outcomes as a “pass” or “fail”, neglecting their progress because they focus solely on results; introduce a grading curve to reflect incremental progression in lieu of a binary grading model;

• Social: debates are often framed as “pro-something” or “anti-something”, when the real productive dialogue is taking place somewhere in the middle; highlight the shared objective and explore diverse perspectives to form a mutually satisfying consensus.

Binary thinking is a double-edged blade. It helps us make quick decisions in critical situations and grants us clarity for straightforward issues with clear distinctions. But it’s limited when it comes to more convoluted issues. There is an innate loss of precision, since categorical thinking, by definition, simplifies and ignores details. Rigid black-and-white thinking can also be incredibly hard to adjust, despite new information and perspectives. To make it all worse, binary thinking is exacerbated by biases, stereotypes, fallacies, and preconceptions, like that men are “logical” whilst women are “emotional”, or that failed attempts mean a lack of ability in a particular field.

How you might use binary thinking when applicable: (1) recognize it’s utility in emergencies, where immediate clarity and action are necessary since saved time can be life-and-death; (2) employ it for clarity, using it to set clear boundaries or rules, as that is where it shines; (3) set anchors to navigate complexity, starting with the extremes to frame a problem, then diving into nuances—from “profitable” versus “unprofitable” to assessing degrees of profitability. When you have to avoid binary thinking: (1) recognize the gray area, actively seeking the spectrum between two extremes—not “healthy” or “unhealthy” behavior, but an exploration of how your actions impact your health, for example; (2) ask open-ended questions, such as “What else could be true?” and “Could both perspectives be valid and why?”; (3) use scale models, replacing “either-or” with “to what extent”—”Will this project succeed or fail?” to “How much value will this project create?”

Thought-provoking insights. “The world is rarely black and white; most of life is lived in shades of gray.” binary thinking oversimplifies our nuanced world, thus it is necessary to push beyond extremes. “Binary choices are tools, not truths.” binary thinking can be employed to frame issues but should not limit our understanding of the scope. “Every extreme contains the seed of it’s opposite.” what seems purely one way often has elements of the other. Recognizing it’s limitations, we can use binary thinking to get an edge and make decisions with more precision and insight. The extremes are there. So are the middle grounds. Take all of them into account.