36. The Pandemic of Black and White Thinking in a Post Truth Society

Splitting or dichotomous thinking, describes a psychological phenomena where your brain perceives something as black and white, or all-or-nothing. People who struggle with splitting tend to see things in extremes and cannot see the area in between.

Psychologist Piaget was among the first to describe this phenomena with an experiment called THE THREE MOUNTAINS TASK. In this study a diorama of mountains was created where the view would be different depending on which side you were viewing the mountains from. In the study, experimenters sat on one side and the child on the other. Children were then asked to point to a picture that portrayed the view of the researcher. Results concluded that typically around age 5 and under, children were unable to imagine a different perspective and would typically point to the picture reflecting their perspective and their view.

If we take this psychological phenomena and put it on a grand scale, you may see people who fail to see the perspectives of others, who hold onto inflexible fundamentalist perspectives and who find it challenging to empathetic-ally consider the possibility of another person. 

Splitting occurs on a spectrum. While you may beat the Three Mountains Task with flying colors, you may still be at risk of engaging in black and white thinking. 

And it’s not totally your fault.

In fact, technology has been working on your brain for decades in order to achieve this outcome. For example: Some sports players are Nike all the way, others are unwilling to even look at a brand other than Adidas. Or how about politics? Over the last election year we saw one of the greatest political divides in our lifetime where there was no area in the gray, it was you’re with us or you’re against us. And that’s final. 

So the question we’re going to tackle today is: What Has Caused The Pandemic of Black and White Thinking in a Post Truth Society?

 

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Dr. Nicole Cain, ND MA is a nationally renowned expert in natural mental health, helping people transform their mental health naturally by uncovering the root cause. She has been published by Salon Magazine, Well + Good, Psychology Today, quoted in Forbes and more! 

 

Disclaimer: This podcast was created by Dr. Nicole Cain, ND, MA for educational purposes only. These are the opinions of Dr. Nicole Cain, ND, MA and should not be taken as the “definitive opinion” or “absolute medical opinion” on any subject. This podcast is not a substitute for medical, psychological, counseling or any other sort of professional care. Consumption of these materials is for your own education and any medical, psychological, or professional care decisions should be made between you and your primary care doctor or another provider that you are engaged with.