WHAT COLOR is your thinking?

by Terry 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Terry

  Something is true if it matches reality.

  A true statement cannot contradict reality.

  But a determined mind can interpret anything into its opposite!

  All it takes is Black and White Thinking.

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  HOW DOES BLACK AND WHITE THINKING WORK?

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  If Jeffrey Dahmer's mother believed he was a good son, then he could not possibly be the guy who was eating people.

  If O.J.Simpson was a fine, upstanding fella with a great personality, then he couldn't possibly have brutally murdered two people with a large knife.

  A ton of evidence means nothing when belief is everything.

  Black and White thinking won't permit facts to intrude!

  Are YOU guilty of Black and White thinking?

  Ask yourself this question:

  WHEN was the last time you CHANGED your opinion, belief or actions???

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  DEFENDING "BELIEF" leads to . . .

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  You inhabit an alternate universe where delusion is stronger than what is really going on.

  Know anybody like that?

  We all----each of us---cling to false ideas.

  Why? They "help" us feel better!

  It is all too easy to become a SELF-CULT.

  1. Block outside information which contradicts your core beliefs

  2. Label critics with nasty names so it is easy to dismiss them without hearing their arguments

  3. Seek constant reinforcement by only listening to those who agree

  4. Make excuses and deflect

  5. Repeat the same errors over and over calling it progress

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  What is really wrong with this world?

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  The blind determination to cling to your OWN favorite ideas, institutions and leaders narrows the possibility of real progress and improvement.

  WHAT COLOR IS YOUR THINKING?

  1. Do you only read things which support your POV? Do you ever objectively try to read the OTHER viewpoint, simply to understand it?

  2. Can you empathize with the deep emotional committment humans have to their false coping mechanisms without condemning the person themselves?

  3. Can you allow yourself to accept criticism without making excuses or lashing out?

  4. Do you even KNOW your personal weaknesses? If you do, do you have ANY PLAN to improve? Do you do something about it each day?

  THREE STEPS TO SEEING BEAUTIFUL COLORS

  1. Admit and accept that no one person or group is the only one possessing absolute truth. This means your pursuit must widen into uncomfortable

  areas of exploration and investigation.

  2. Admit and accept you can't change anybody but yourself. Without a daily plan for self-improvement by objective standards, you will remain in ignorance probably thinking you are the one "in the know."

  3. Admit and accept you are wrong a lot more often than you are even aware of. Practice saying, "I'm sorry--I was wrong." Don't follow such admissions with a list of excuses.

  4. Learn to understand the difference between giving a reason and making an excuse.

  5. Each time you catch yourself saying something critical about others--STOP---and find 3 things about yourself which need constant improvement.

  6. Ask yourself: "When was the last time I was dead wrong?" The honest answer can't be older than a week, or you're lying to yourself.

  7. How many of the things which make your life miserable would you say are the fault of "other" people? Try flipping that assessment and making responsible improvement.

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  JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES are convinced the have the absolute TRUTH.

  Do they TEST that belief against reality?

  Do they listen to critics without deflecting, labeling with pejoratives and dismissing peremptorily?

  Are they open to reading outside of their comfort zone?

  Do they look at other religious groups in a way that would improve their own standards of treating the poor, the afflicted, the troubled? Or,

  are they convinced they have nothing to learn and everybody should only listen to them?

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  BLACK AND WHITE THINKING is a symptom

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  1. Self-delusion

  2. Ignorance

  3. Lack of humility

  4. Poor attention to disconfirming evidence

  5. Bad habits

  6. Sloppy thinking and reasoning

  7. Inferior character development
• 

  Oubliette

  Clear, my thinking is clear. Often it's very clear.

  

  Great thread, Terry!
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  new hope and happiness

  Terry: not wanting to make fun of your post. But in England we have a sweet called a polo. Its a mint with a hole. Now i could use that mint to play darts and try to throw my arrow in its hole, or i can suck it and enjoy my mint.

  Well having purchased my mint i decided i was terrible at darts so i sucked it untill it dissolved in my mouth. Now the next mint in the pack was a different color and with a different flavour...i put it in my mouth and sucked it untill it dissolved. Eventually i finnished the pack and found myself dead.
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  new hope and happiness

  Think clearly Oubliette: How can you say this is a " great thread " when you were the only one to reply. You must be an optomist in your thinking?
• 

  Terry

  Step one: throw your darts at the wall

  Step two: draw a tiny circle around the point.

  Step three: bring in your friends and display the darts inside the tiny circles.

  Step four: allow them to draw their own conclusions.

  The above is illustrative of a certain kind reasoning where the person drawing the conclusions assumes into evidence

  a premise or presupposition which itself is false.

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  MIKE says: in England we have a sweet called a polo. Its a mint with a hole. Now i could use that mint to play darts and try to throw my arrow in its hole, or i can suck it and enjoy my mint.

  I guess the moral of your story is: suck it!

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  (Off topic question for Mike: Which is better, Have Gun--Will Travel or Wanted Dead or Alive?)
• 

  Oubliette

  NHAH, Yes, I am an optimist.

  That being said, your post about the polos really sucked. But at least you don't mints/(mince) your words!
• 

  Oubliette

  Terry, a psychologist I know told me that one sign of mental health is the ability to be flexible in thinking when situations require it.

  I asked him if having a rigid, black and white, approach was then an indicator of mental illness. He said, "Absolutely, yes!"
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  new hope and happiness

  Terry firstly thanks for making me feel i exist on this site. ( yes my name is Mike)

  Now what is best " Have Gun will Travel" or " Wanted Dead or Alive" ?

  To most observers these shows were about good men doing a dirty job. They were hired guns.Now i think Steve Mcqueen in " wanted" with his style of masculinity had more sympathy than the lead that played " Have Gun..." Why do i say this when both devoted themselfs to justice?

  Well i think Mcqueen appealed to a wider audience, with his youth and poverty,and so reflected many of the values his young audience wish they could see in themselfs. And i think we could identify that behind his scatter gun was a man very relaxed about himself. So his sexuality and perfect appearance was more of a masculine taunt and allowed for a greater sensitivity.

  What was a great western was " Red River" with John Wayne and Montgomory Cliff. But i would have loved to see the lead of " Have gun" play the John Wayne charactor and Mcqueen be cast in the " Montgomory Cliff" role...that would be fun L.O.L
• 

  Terry

  new hope and happiness (Alias Mike) says:

  Terry firstly thanks for making me feel i exist on this site. ( yes my name is Mike)

  I went back into the "history" section to your earliest posts, Mike.

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  Now what is best " Have Gun will Travel" or " Wanted Dead or Alive" ?

  To most observers these shows were about good men doing a dirty job. They were hired guns.Now i think Steve Mcqueen in " wanted" with his style of masculinity had more sympathy than the lead that played " Have Gun..." Why do i say this when both devoted themselfs to justice?

  Well i think Mcqueen appealed to a wider audience, with his youth and poverty,and so reflected many of the values his young audience wish they could see in themselfs. And i think we could identify that behind his scatter gun was a man very relaxed about himself. So his sexuality and perfect appearance was more of a masculine taunt and allowed for a greater sensitivity.

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  Interesting observations, Mike. Richard Boone's Paladin (knight without armor) was a pre-echo of Edward Woodward's THE EQUALISER. And a forerunner of Lee Child's JACK REACHER.

  Paladin lived a James Bond hedonist lifestyle quoting Shakespeare and the Old Testament with aplomb. I liked his mysterioso.

  Paladin : I don't think you got a very good look at this gun while you had it. The balance is perfect. This trigger responds to a pressure of one ounce. If you look carefully in the barrel you'll see the lines of the rifling. It's a rarity in a hand weapon. This gun was handcrafted to my specifications and I rarely draw it unless I mean to use it. Would you care for a demonstration?

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  McQueen came out of an orphanage and was tough as nails inside. He hated dialogue where you had to take a breath first. He held up production on The Great Escape until they made his part bigger. He stole Ali McGraw from Paramount bigwig Robert Evans. He was a loner who went his own way. One of my favorite films he made was SOLDIER IN THE RAIN with Jackie Gleason directed by Pink Panther director, Blake Edwards. He was never less than compelling in every film he made.

  http://www.dougiethompson.com/SteveMcQueen_page3.htm

  Damon Albright : You got here quick.
  Josh Randall : Well, for $1,000 I can ride real fast.

  Estralita : Where do your sympathies lie?
  Josh Randall : Well, uh, whenever there's a woman involved I kinda lean in that direction.
  
  Josh Randall : What's in it for me?
  Estralita : My gratitude.
  Josh Randall : Well, kind of a hard thing to spend.
  Estralita : So are a lot of worthwhile things.

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  What was a great western was " Red River" with John Wayne and Montgomory Cliff. But i would have loved to see the lead of " Have gun" play the John Wayne charactor and Mcqueen be cast in the " Montgomory Cliff" role...that would be fun L.O.L

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  I recently re-watched FROM HERE TO ETERNITY and was amazed at how a little guy like Cliff, who was gay in real ife, could play an extreme range of masculinty to sensitivy without a trace of "acting" showing through. He was a natural and another actor who never faltered in his magnificent screen-holding persona, even when he was in that final film, THE DEFECTOR. I think he was a heroin addict at the time.

  RED RIVER is one of those films which is absolutely perfect in every way. I'm not sure I could watch a remake without bias:)