Categorical thinking is the natural process of the mind that orders
all knowledge into specifically defined classes. A variation of this process is a strategy called dualism, which establishes an unnatural set of two opposite categories, such as good or bad, happy or sad, right or wrong.
This notion is unnatural because this is an invention of mankind
&emdash; nothing in nature is this simplistic. While a common human strategy, categorical and dualistic thinking can have a negative impact on our mental health because it sets us up to fail at problem solving. By using an ineffective problem solving strategy, our expectations of attaining our goal of good, or happy, or right are not always met and we become frustrated or angry, etc. With each failure to effectively solve our problems, we may feel inadequate and become anxious, stressed or ashamed. We may come to question our worth, and a vicious cycle is set in motion leading to sadness, or boredom or more severe forms of mental and physical distress. Listen to people describe their daily problems and you will hear their categorical logic. "I really want to do the right thing, so I keep worrying about it, hoping it will just go away."
Categorization is necessary to carry on daily conversations, like: "It
is a good thing we didn't go to the game last night, they got rained out." In this case the category of good is used harmlessly as part of a conversation. However, categorization doesn't always serve us well. The problem arises when we mistakenly use categories as distinct causes and attempt to engage in problem solving. For
“Categorical Thinking Can Be Hazardous To Your Health”,
Perhaps we misuse categorization because we don't understand
our world causally. Or maybe we get categorical thinking and causal thinking mixed up. A compelling reason to think categorically is that it is much simpler than causal relationships. Instead of trying to understand all the causes behind the situation, we can say things like: "Ninety five percent of all accidents are caused by human error, or intelligence is caused by formal education, or equipment failure is caused by wear."
While these relationships are all true in a categorical sense, they
over-simplify the situation by ignoring the cause and effect relationships within the categories. They fail to recognize that every effect has two or more causes and these causes are part of an infinite set of causes expanding exponentially as we ask "why."
Effective problem solving is identifying causal relationships and
The human mind seems to be forever aligned with it's simplistic
categorization scheme but we have the choice to use the simple tool of an Apollo Cause and Effect Chart to help us break free. Thinking causally can be good for your health.
“Categorical Thinking Can Be Hazardous To Your Health”,