Dichotomous thinking simplistically resolves ambiguity

Dichotomous thinking (also known as “binary bias”) is the “basic human tendency to seek clarity and closure by simplifying a complex continuum into two categories.”^[1] It attempts to resolve ambiguity by seeing things in binary, as all black or all white.

...human beings are prone to dichotomous thinking. We don’t like ambiguity. We like things to be true or false, black or white. When it comes to facts, this isn’t necessarily problematic, but alas it also applies to our opinions … Because of this dichotomous thinking, most evidence that the world presents us isn’t overwhelming enough to compel us to completely shift our positions. Therefore we stick with our original one. And that’s a shame because every time we do, we squander an opportunity to see the world more accurately, or at least more vividly.
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In order to be persuadable, we need to move from thinking in black and white to thinking in shades of gray. But practically speaking, how would this work? How do we actually learn and incorporate this grayscale style of thinking and thus acquire the edge that persuadable leaders have?^[2]

From Think Aagain:

Hearing an opposing opinion doesn’t necessarily motivate you to rethink your own stance; it makes it easier for you to stick to your guns (or your gun bans). Presenting two extremes isn’t the solution; it’s part of the polarization problem.

Psychologists have a name for this: binary bias. It’s a basic human tendency to seek clarity and closure by simplifying a complex continuum into two categories. To paraphrase the humorist Robert Benchley, there are two kinds of people: those who divide the world into two kinds of people, and those who don’t.

A solution may be to complexify the topic.

#strategic #metacognition #bias