Higher Order Idea

Look for ideas that resolve apparent dichotomies by showing both sides to be true.

when doing Your Own Thinking, look carefully at the ideas that people have decided are polar opposites and ask if that is really true; this pattern helps you look for common ground.

The universe is inherently non-contradictory: the principle of gravity doesn’t contradict relativity. But when we see contradictory ideas that both seem to reflect reality, we still think the contradiction is real.

  • There’s a story in which two people in Flatworld (a 2-dimensional place) are arguing about the nature of something they both saw. One insists that it was in the shape of a rectangle and other insists that it was in the shape of a circle. A third person, who had visited 3-space (a 3-dimensional place) realized that they were both talking about a cylinder.

  • We assert that there are many of these kinds of false dichotomies in our collective thinking. Some of us see part of a reality and others see a different part and because we can’t see the bigger picture, we decide that the other side is wrong and needs to be stopped. Daniel Schmachtenberger offers a few examples of what have often been thought of as existential dualities that are in fact reconcilable:

    • Loving what is or working to make things better…
    • Accepting ourselves as we are unconditionally or aspiring to grow and express more of our full potential…
    • Free will or determinism…
    • Open mindedness or critical thinking…
    • Freedom or structure…
    • Gratitude or desire…
    • Rights or responsibilities…

  • I would also assert that many of the political ideals of the left and right are like this. There is less disagreement about how the world should be than how we should go about making it that way.

  • This is discussed in How to Think Like Leonardo da Vinci as the ability to hold multiple, often contradictory ideas in your mind as true. To deal with it, we assume that the contradiction is an illusion. If there is not a faulty assumption or conclusion that needs to be adjusted, then there is a larger concept or idea that connects the two and you are simply not aware of it yet.

  • This can be seen as an opportunity to make a discovery that resolves the conflict. It certainly opens up questions for investigation and while that may not lead directly to an answer, just consciously posing the question can make the conflict okay.

  • Our Personal Universes are quite capable of holding a question in place of actual knowledge, and this question of “what connects these seemingly contradictory ideas” is enough for our minds to rest. The question also tunes our subconscious to look for the answer.

Therefore:

When you encounter an apparent dichotomy where both ideas appear to be valid, look for a larger idea that allows both ideas to be true. If the larger idea is not readily apparent, place a question in it’s place that asks “what is the larger idea that allows both of these to be true?”

Rather than arguing over these points, enter into a Dialogue with someone who has an opposing view in an attempt to see the larger picture

Notes/patterns mentioning this pattern