Twilight Zone Thinking

For our exploration day in June, I offered a class entitled, "The Twilight Zone and Philosophy." I have used an episode of the old Twilight Zone series in my humanities class, with some success, so I thought I'd expand on this idea for my explore class. I was not disappointed. In addition to watching a couple episodes of this classic TV series, I gave a very brief introduction to philosophy and we had some structured thinking exercises that related to the content of the videos. 

When the morning of explore day came however, I was still a bit unsure how to start. I had my basic outline, and videos ready to go, but still didn't have that introductory "hook" that felt right. As I was scurrying to get ready, I was listening to a short history of the series on youtube. The narrator mentioned that the name of the series came from that time of day between the light and dark- the twilight. And that this was also a metaphor for that type of moral ambiguity or gray area, that we often encounter in life, and that philosophy students love. 

Bingo. I had my introduction. 

I would start by talking about two types of thinking. First, "black and white" thinking, where there is just one right answer to a problem, as in math or on a quiz; Second, "Twilight Zone" thinking, where things are ambiguous, where there are shades of gray- where there may be multiple truths and perspectives in a given situation. And after relating this to a general introduction to philosophy, we proceeded to do some "Twilight Zone" thinking- along with some great discussion. 

So why should middle schoolers be interested in this? Or anyone for that matter? Why spend time thinking about thinking? 

As cognitive psychology teaches us, the lenses we use to interpret reality greatly affect how we feel about and manage things. One common thinking error is called "black and white" thinking (also called "all- or -nothing" thinking.) Using this lens, things are either good or bad, or just one way, when in reality, life is often complex, and made up of seemingly contradictory elements- shades of gray. So instead of viewing a person or situation in just one way (eg, he's good, she's bad, he's a "jerk", etc), we work to see the nuances, the complexities that make up that person or situation. In Chinese philosophy, this was captured in the classic yin and yang symbol where opposites make up a interrelated whole. Dialectical therapy, or DBT, expresses a similar idea- that in any situation, multiple truths can coexist together at the same time, and all reflect some facet of reality.  

The yin and yang symbol 

And by adopting this lens, the lens of multiple truths, we can achieve  a more balanced reaction to life's inevitable complexities. 

A full exposition of thinking errors- formally called cognitive distortions-  is beyond the scope of this post, but if you are interested in learning more, I'd start with David Burn's book, Feeling Good, or any source on dialectical behavior therapy. 

What's great about the old Twilight Zone series is that it was full of morally ambiguous situations- perfect for a day of philosophical exploration.