City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Black and white thinking, the burden of a binary brain in a complex world, Dr Kevin Dutton

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrations

index present

non fiction

Black and white thinking

bibliography

Dr Kevin Dutton

the burden of a binary brain in a complex world

With polarizing events like Trump and Brexit in mind, Black and White Thinking argues that by understanding the evolutionary programming of our binary brains we can adapt our thinking to make subtler, better decisions. It is human instinct to sort, categorize and frame everything in binary black and white. It's how our brains work. Migrant or refugee? Muslim or Christian? Them or us? Rather than reaching out to those who are different, we bond with those who are just like us, which means the difference between polarized beliefs becomes ever greater. Dangerous possibilities arise. The Arab Spring. Brexit. Trump. Through persistent binary thinking our capacity for rational thought - seeing the grey, rather than merely black and white - begins to erode. Black and White Thinking is an alarm call. Amidst a rising tide of religious intolerance and political extremism, it argues that by understanding the evolutionary programming of our binary brains we can overcome it, make sense of the world and in future make much subtler, and far better, decisions

The categorization instinct -- A heap of trouble -- When categories collide -- The dark side of black and white -- The viewfinder principle -- The complexity of simplicity -- The rainbow that might have been -- The frame game -- Where there's a why there's a way -- Supersuasion -- Undercover influence : the secret science of getting what you want -- Redrawing the lines -- Postcript: the wisdom of radicals