If someone could see only in black and white, what would they see if you showed them a rainbow? They would see grey where there is no grey.

From their perspective, to see grey would be to see a contradiction. They cannot comprehend anything outside black and white. They reject the rainbow.

I see this a lot when trying to explain things to people with a western binary-type mindset. It’s very hard for them. Sometimes it’s impossible to get anything through.

People with a binary mindset make very good ‘useful idiots’.

In political jargon, a useful idiot is a derogatory term for a person perceived as propagandizing for a cause without fully comprehending the cause’s goals, and who is cynically used by the cause’s leaders.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Useful_idiot

They only see two sides, they pick one. And they diligently stick to it.

How can one avoid this trap of binary thinking?

Aboriginal culture has the answer here. It’s training yourself to listen carefully and in a non-judgmental way. And listening with an awareness and appreciation of context of what you are hearing.

You don’t always have to take a side. Sometimes the best place to sit is on the fence, and just quietly watch.

Concentrate on trying to deeply understand and empathise.

Let go of your ego, accept that you don’t always have to have all of the answers. You don’t always have to be right.

Regularly try to ‘debunk’ and challenge your own beliefs. Especially when you notice something in the world which seems to contradict your belief. Ask yourself why that contradiction is there. Go hard, take out the trash – because holding onto false assumptions will blind you.

I think if this was widely practiced, most propaganda simply wouldn’t work.