Chapter 8: Magnifying Glass
Where black and white thinking fails to respect the nuanced connections of life, its simple concepts still thrive in their encapsulation of a purpose. Simplistic thinking’s best friend is context; selected minute details form together creating a narrative that must ring true by the time of its conclusion, due to its parts. An issue arises when one neglects that those minute details can be narratives as well. 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 considering what has yet to.
Complex thinkers have a strong working relationship with their anxiety. It is difficult for one to be rigid in a belief even if they want to. Sometimes, their own knowledge gets tested and all hell breaks loose in their own head. With a mission to keep their anxiety at bay they 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 things can be will benefit their next decision as there will be more information to base it on. But more doesn’t always mean better because logic cannot always explain the inconceivable, unexpected, ‘human’ and natural occurrences in the world that force you to feel with emotions or sense, not question.
Simplifying black and white thinkers and complex thinkers is easy to do but difficult to create satisfying answers without over-generalization. Black and white thinkers can be less informed, or they could believe being informed is the most important thing. Complex thinkers can be extremely understanding, or they could 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. 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(K’un) that can transforms into an equitably ginormous bird(P’eng), 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 many aspects of their existence, though they try. The way in which the immeasurable creatures will make the journey from north to south perplexes them, with how they understand the limits of travel to be for their size and limits. I offered a short imperfect summary, but the text has many interpretations of the overall meaning and lessons. But now I will give a perspective on how this tale could help us conceptualize the vastness of the complexities in our forms of thought.
The K’un and the P’eng 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 it’s 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 K’un and P’eng.
The contrasting ‘micro’ perspective 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 that doesn’t even seem real. Often times ‘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.
K’un and P’eng 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 simplicity falls apart because of the abundant nuances of things.
Valid beliefs like “K’un and P’eng terrorize the smaller lifeforms with their arrogance, warping the lands with their sheer size.” or “K’un and P’eng are oblivious of what is much smaller than them and therefore should educate themselves to not cause harm.” are rooted in things that K’un and P’eng 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 deeper meaning 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, in my opinion, 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. Mastering this magnifying and minimizing tool pulls you closer to unconditional love.