We tend to pick sides. We are inclined toward extremes. Sometimes we are compelled and other times we do out of will or ignorance. Always hurried to pick one.
likes or dislikes..
hope or despair..
right or wrong..
good or bad..
us or them…
this or that..
0 or 1..
Binary thinking may help if you are a computer programmer but it hardly works in real life. Life happens between extremes.
Life is hardly black and white. Its a rainbow.
When you are on one side, you can see far ahead but only on one side. You don’t get the breadth of the view. When you come to the center, you have a panoramic view.
Center is the great place to evaluate both sides. When you come to the center, you can evaluate better and make an informed decision. When you spend time in center, often you realise, that sometimes you don’t even have to decide or pick either of the sides. Not all situations demand that you pick one.
In the worlds of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram — you join groups, follow your interests, follow people you like. You identify with your tribe. There is nothing wrong in identifying with your tribe. That is how humans are engineered, from beginning of the time. But when you strongly identify with your tribe, you see only what you want to see. You unknowingly become a binary thinker. When you are fixated only on one side, it blurs your vision. It can even make you blind.
You may think killing another human being is bad — but what about a soldier on the battlefield?!
You may say slicing animals for food is unethical — but what about a professional butcher?!
You may say Meditation is good for everyone. But it may not be the case for everyone. Someone who is suffering from clinical depression or severe PTSD might fall into deep end and become more miserable and depressed if he adapts meditation.
You may say I dislike this person but if you look closely, you may just dislike one aspect or behavior of that person. But you are quick to pick extreme and put a label “dislike”. This is not to say that you should see good in all and ignore the bad. Positive psychology and positive thinking are cosmetic repairs at the level of mind. The idea is to see it “as it is” and take the action from that place. This trumps the idea of blindly picking good or bad.
I understand sometimes we have to pick a side. But when you pick from the position of center, it is likely that you have picked the right side rather than reflexively jumping to one side. You have more clarity.
Come to the center and use the wide angle lens.
