Chapter 8: Magnifying Glass
In places where black and white thinking fails to respect the nuance, the simple approach can still thrive as a summary of a purpose. This simplistic way of thinking’s best friend is context. All the selected minute details form together, creating a narrative whole that must ring true, due to its parts. However, an issue arises when one neglects that those minute details can be narratives themselves. That is when a perspective that is rooted in learned experience is being told as a universal encapsulation of all something can be. Simplified, one could say that black and white thinking is illogical but that is not true. Black and white thinking is following your heart, which means trusting what has moved you more than choosing to consider what has yet to.
In contrast, complex thinkers have a strong working relationship with their anxiety. It is difficult for one to be rigid in a belief rooted in trust even if they want to. When their own knowledge gets tested, all hell breaks loose in their own head. With a mission to keep their anxiety at bay, they will try to understand, reframe, rework, adapt and improvise towards conclusions that give their anxious side and their intellectual side equal satisfaction. Thinking about how deep each individual detail can go will benefit their next decision, as there will be more information to base it on. But more doesn’t always mean better when logic cannot always explain the inconceivable, unexpected occurrences in the world that force you to feel, not question.
Simplifying black and white thinkers and complex thinkers is easy to do but creates unsatisfying answers with over-generalization. Black and white thinkers can be less informed but could also believe being informed is the most important thing. Complex thinkers can be extremely understanding but they could also be extremely unforgiving. The way a person interacts with their main form of thinking is personalized. Creating a spectrum that makes for an interesting world of thought. Black and white thinkers and complex thinkers will have a difficult time tracking and rationalizing each other’s thought processes due to their differences, but there are methods of conceptualizing why and how to navigate those differences.
A classic daoist text “Zhuangzi”, inspires a story in its first chapter “Free And Easy Wandering” that speaks of a mythical immeasurably large fish(Kun) that can transform into an equitably ginormous bird(Peng), turning the ocean waves to extreme levels and causing storms with the flaps of its wings as it travels north to south and back. The other smaller creatures around are unable to fathom aspects of their existence, though through their own logic they attempt to. The way in which the immeasurable creatures make their journey from north to south perplexes them because of their own understanding of the limits of travel. The text has many interpretations of the overall meaning and lessons. But this story gives a perspective on how we can conceptualize the complexities in our forms of thought.
The Kun and the Peng are both macro creatures. In previous chapters I’ve used the term macro to describe a perspective that is overarching, infallible or effective on its own. We use macro thoughts in how we personally choose to simplify universal things. For example, life on its own is a macro thought, as is love, or grief and more. These words carry so much weight and depth that to accurately understand them you are better off summarizing them down to a simplified statement of what it is, similar to the unexplainable nature of Kun and Peng.
The contrasting micro perspectives are the smaller fish and birds that are observing and being affected by the world-altering movements of these mythical creatures. Using their own understanding of needing sustenance, or thinking about the potential predators or dangers, the small creatures use their smaller reality to understand something complex. Oftentimes micro perspectives can demean or doubt the legitimacy, intelligence or simplified viewpoint of macro things because they strongly believe in the nuances that dictate what can and can’t be. From the micro perspective, love and life can be explained but will be narrative rather than inarguable.
Kun and Peng on their journey are a black and white thing. It doesn’t matter who or what doubts them because they exist and will persist. The desire for an explanation does not concern them. Sometimes, we as thinkers exist in this macro state. We believe in gods, in love, in right and wrong, good and evil, simply because they exist. We then move towards a micro state to explain the nuanced details of why and how, but in that world, the simplicity falls apart.
Valid beliefs like “Kun and Peng terrorize the smaller lifeforms with their arrogance, warping the lands with their sheer size.” or “Kun and Peng are oblivious of what is much smaller than them and therefore should educate themselves to not cause harm.” are rooted in things that Kun and Peng are not aware of. Things like arrogance, terror, size, education are all put on them, but they don’t know what that is. Just like the words life, love, lull, god, grief, grace and peace have no need for perfect definition because they need no nuance to exist and to be believed in. We selectively choose to delve deeper and offer them nuanced meaning based on our lived experience or knowledge.
Macro and micro thought is black and white thinking and complex thinking. The self aware complex thinker who fails to see themselves becoming unfair towards their macro perspectives will also fail in self-awareness. The black and white thinker who fails to accept that their simplistic view has no real meaning to anyone but themselves will never actually reach infallibility. We as creatures ourselves can reach imperfection by navigating this space responsibly and with empathy to both the misunderstood mythical creatures and the unheard smaller creatures. Allowing simplicity and creating depth. The best thinkers will learn to navigate from macro perspectives to micro perspectives and back again, a cycle identical to the journey of north to south.
Cyclical thinkers, for a lack of a name, will still lean more towards one side of thinking than another but they are open to travelling towards their non-dominant side. With time and over time, cyclical thinkers will better understand themselves, others and the world around them, as they have gained access to what was previously difficult to understand and rationalize. Ignorance is both intentional and unintentional. Love is both intentional and unintentional. Experiences are both intentional and unintentional. You are so much bigger than you think, but also so much smaller than you think. You have so much control, but also no control at all. Inside you, is the world of K’un and P’eng and the smaller creatures. Your true perspective and the quality of your thinking is rooted in your ability to zoom in and zoom out on any individual thing in your mind. Mastering this magnifying and minimizing tool pulls you closer to unconditional love.