How to change your thinking to become wiser

Ambivalent (gray) thinking is the ability to see a situation from several sides at once. A person who knows how to think ambivalently can take the opponent's position and look at the problem from his point of view. While ambivalent thinking makes us less determined, it is very helpful. After all, only those who learn to move into the "gray zone" will become smarter and wiser.

Gray thinking can be learned. After all, each of us initially possessed the skill of ambivalent thinking when he was small.

Children do it like this

They love to torment their parents with questions. The why chain can be endless.

Parents will probably recognize this dialogue: such conversations with children happen often. For a child, the world is not black and white, and he easily tries on everything for himself. There is still so much unknown. There are no foundations, no unambiguous truths. The worldview has not yet been formed.

How the world turns black and white

As we grow up, our views become harder. A certain framework is imposed on us from the outside. For example, students are asked to take exams that consist of test questions. This forces us to think in black and white. The correct answer is always A, B, C or D, otherwise it cannot be.

The main symptom of this worldview is thinking in certain categories:

War is bad. War is good.
Capitalism is bad. Capitalism is good.
Higher education is essential. Higher education is a waste of time.

As we mature, we think in slogans. They replace our understanding of the problem, the very process of thinking. After all, in order to think, you need to strain. And when it is clear what is black and what is white, there is no need to think.

Is it bad to have strong convictions?

No, not bad. But the real world is not black and white. It is very difficult to find a question to which you could give the only correct answer. Our life is a gray area.

It is very difficult to accept this: in schools and universities, we are instilled with the confidence that there are right and wrong answers. And only when faced with reality, we begin to suspect that the world is not so simple.

Clear answers, slogans no longer fit. If you know history well, you cannot say unequivocally that war is bad. Most likely, now you will say: "War is bad, but at some stages of the development of the state it was necessary, so it can be considered a complex and ambiguous phenomenon."

From this answer, it becomes clear: you are not inclined to jump to conclusions. Ambivalent thinking is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can spend forever choosing between kefir and fermented baked milk. On the other hand, you have the ability to see the world from multiple perspectives and judge more wisely.

How to learn ambivalent thinking

Learning to think ambivalently is difficult, especially if you are prone to radical judgments. But this will help to see the situation from all sides and not jump to conclusions. Therefore, learning gray thinking is still worth it, and here's how it can be done.

1. Stop judging the world harshly

If it's hard not to think in categories A and B, just don't say those thoughts out loud. Try to separate things as rarely as possible into black and white, good and bad. Feel how the world doesn't fit into these categories.

2. Put an event or phenomenon in perspective

Consider phenomena, events and concepts from the point of view of time. Determine their importance by considering both the good and the bad.

3. Accept that you are not always right

Accept the opponent's point of view. Try to believe that he knows the truth and you don't.

4. Train yourself that truth is ambiguous

Look at the problem from every angle. Take a different opinion. Remember how a child looks at the world, and try to take at least a step towards ambivalent thinking.