The Importance Of Dichotomistic Thinking

What is it about the current American system that is stagnating progress? It seems as if we have been politically stagnated for years. While Asia skyrockets in progress and technology, we seem to be moving backward. Our governmental process seems to be more about scandal then producing great policies that will move us forward in the world. As we view our once mighty industry, all we see is the rust belt and jobs that have moved off shore. Our cities seem to be stagnated by urban decay. Is this really the America that our forefathers dreamed of? As a Psychology Instructor and Counselor, I often see problems differently, from a cognitive approach. A cognitive approach is that instead of only looking at the prima facial behaviors, I tend to …show more content…
Today, we have Democrats and Republicans that fight and block one another. This is called a dichotomist thought process. A dichotomist thought process is rooted in concrete thinking and sees things in an either or fashion. The issue here is that this is not how our political system was designed to function; therefore, our output potential is …show more content…
What if dialectic thinking was used instead? The great expert of thought development, Jean Piaget, felt that humans were generally capable of leaving behind dichotomist thinking as a teenager, and move into formal operations and higher order thinking skills as we move into young adulthood. This, however, does not seem to be the case. Our media and politicians assume that the average American is only capable of concrete thinking, therefore the political rhetoric and activity is executed at a dichotomist level. This thought process has inhibited our cognitive abilities from producing innovation. Dialectic thinking promotes innovation. Innovation is what built The United States. The innovation of our nation produced: railroads, our free market, the light bulb, the automobile, nuclear energy, and our space program. Why then do we have urban decay? Our urban centers should be bustling with enterprise. Our school systems should be producing the brightest students who shine like the stars. If we can reapply the correct thought process to our system, like our forefathers, we can accomplish innovative results and avoid common