In our modern age, there is a pandemic of black-and-white thinking. We automatically sort things into good and bad without any thought as to why. We simply categorize it and are done with it. The more we fall into this primitive way of thinking, the more strife we create in our lives. Instead of keeping our brains off, we need to turn them back on and realize that every advantage has a disadvantage & vice versa.

For too long, people have been raised to see certain things in a good light and certain things in a bad light. While this has its uses, we've come to the point where it does more harm than good.

People have gotten to the point where they don't think critically often enough. They let others tell them how to think and become sheep.

It's time for humanity to take back its critical thinking skills. It's time for people to realize that every advantage has a disadvantage & vice versa.

Life is not black and white

Think back to those you know who see things in a black-and-white manner. How annoying are they? Chances are that they have their moments where you can get along with them as well as their moments where they're unbearable. I can assure you, this is a direct consequence of thinking in this way.

Let's cut right to the point: life is too dynamic to label things in a black-or-white manner. To say one thing is bad while another is good is too often very hasty.

When we don't allow ourselves to see more than just the terror or joy in the direct moment in front of us, we deprive ourselves of very valuable learning moments and growth opportunities.

We learn to discard those learning moments from a young age when we are taught to see things as immediately bad or good by our parents, who label things as bad or good based on how they react to certain moments.

From their reactions, we pick up a sense of what is desirable and what is not and label those as good and bad respectively. This becomes the basis of our black-or-white thinking which guides us.

Understand that this is not a bad thing. This is simply a mechanism of our mind designed to keep us socially amenable to those around us.

In other words, this mechanism is designed to help us get along with the "tribe" around us. 

The problem is our lives extend much further than just our immediate tribe nowadays. When we get older, we come into contact with so many more people than our ancient ancestors ever could.

All of a sudden, those valuable lessons we learned as kids to be socially acceptable may very well end up holding us back from flourishing.

To make the shift to flourishing, you need to learn how to see that every advantage comes with a disadvantage & vice versa.

For example, being a man gives you the advantage of physical strength but gives you the disadvantage of having to take a lot more initiative in your life, especially romantically.

Or, being poor gives you the disadvantage of poverty and living near the edge, but gives you the advantage of humility and having a greater potential for community through relying on others for necessary support.

Of course, there will always be those who do not obtain the advantages in a given scenario but that is because they are not open to it.

Another crucial point is that perspective can change how you see either side. Some men may see taking more initiative as an advantage that allows them to take more responsibility over the course of their lives.

To truly thrive and flourish as a human being, you need to learn to see the good in the bad and the bad in the good. They are always there, you just need to be open to it.

A world filled with ignorance

As it stands, modern people are the most ignorant bunch ever. They destroy their own lives because of their immediate judgments of what happens, not ever slowing down to reflect and grow.

They are shooting themselves in the foot by doing this. When you think in a black-or-white manner, you are limiting your perspective so much that you miss the forest for one branch.

The key is to expand your understanding to see that there is an advantage in each disadvantage & vice versa. Only when you can start seeing things in this way will you be able to start learning and growing at an unprecedented rate.

- Karl