

In fact, some experts think this pattern may have its origins in human survival - our fight or flight response.īut if thinking in black and white becomes a habit, it can: Most of us engage in dichotomous thinking from time to time. It’s hard to sustain life at those extremes.

And let’s face it: There’s a reason most people don’t live on Everest or in the Mariana Trench. This thought pattern, which the American Psychological Association also calls dichotomous or polarized thinking, is considered a cognitive distortion because it keeps us from seeing the world as it often is: complex, nuanced, and full of all the shades in between.Īn all-or-nothing mindset doesn’t allow us to find the middle ground. My boyfriend is an ange l, or He’s the devil incarnate. Black and white thinking is the tendency to think in extremes: I am a brilliant success, or I am an utter failure.
