Broadening Our Minds and Creating Unity with Dialectical Thinking
By: Lisa Templeton, Ph.D.
Dialectical thinking is an understanding that the extreme of both sides, along with all that happens in between, have merit. This form of thinking offers a “both/and” approach rather than an “either/or” take on a situation or a person. When you take on a “both/and” perspective, you can stay aware of the truth behind each person’s life experience, relationships, traumas, mental/physical health, and cultural/community that influences beliefs and choices.
As humans, we don’t fit into boxes; we are way more complex than that. We come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and we need to be able to see the middle areas amidst the extremes, the context of the whole. Each person is likely both good and bad, not good or bad. One person is not right or wrong; they can be both right and wrong. Right in some ways and wrong in others, good in some ways and bad in others. When we embrace these aspects of ourselves and everyone around us, we begin to expand and broaden our way of thinking and get out of the box of duality and polaristic thinking that limits our perception of each other.
In my work and in my own experience, I often observe polarized ways of thinking such as, “I’m not good enough” or “I am a failure” or “I can’t do this” or even “I’m a terrible person for thinking this”, “If only everyone really knew me, they wouldn’t want me.” If not focused on ourselves, we can focus on others and what they are doing wrong. Thoughts such as “I hate republicans/democrats” or “He/she doesn’t care about me” or “All anti/pro vax people are selfish” or comparing ourselves to others with thoughts like, “How come that person has more than me?” or “I do everything around here” or “Why does this person think they are so great?” These types of thoughts create more separation between each extreme and the perspective focuses on “either/or” instead of “both/and.”
It takes a lot more work to unbelieve something than it takes to initially come to believe it. If we rush to a quick conclusion of “either/or” and don’t consider all the alternative perspectives of a situation, we can get caught up in our own bias. We must learn to challenge our thoughts and our perspective with more logic, curiosity, and compassion. Only then can we create more space for unity in the world.
The place to begin is within. Practice noticing the ways in which you are seeing things in an extreme way – from good/bad, constricted/free, right/wrong, right/left, beautiful/ugly, and success/failure. Remember the context of what is going on around you and consider alternatives to your own initial assumptions. Look for what you might be missing. Is there another possible way to perceive the situation?
This article is a call to action for us all to create unity in the world with more dialectical thinking. If we can notice these polarized thoughts with non-judgmental awareness, we can begin to expand the whole and create more dialectical perceptions within our minds. This way of thinking aids us to combat limited perceptions and continued divisions in the world. When we make attempts to think in this manner, we can broaden our perspective of the world.
This is not an easy practice by any means, yet it is vital to find some sort of unity within ourselves and each other. Take a “both/and” approach considering that there can be multiple truths to a situation depending on one’s perspective. Start within by observing your own perspective and work to broaden it. With more practice on dialectical thinking comes more compassion, love, balance, logic, truth, and unity in our minds and in our world.