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Stop the ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ snap judgments and watch your world become more interesting

Stop the ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ snap judgments and watch your world become more interesting

  • Stop making snap judgments of “good” or “bad” to experience more interesting and nuanced aspects of life.
  • When you filter everything through a “good” or “bad” lens, you miss out on opportunities for curiosity, exploration, and cognitive engagement.
  • By resisting the urge to judge, you can unlock your mind’s potential to connect with new experiences, people, and environments, leading to a more richly textured life.
  • Developing psychological richness can also lead to self-expansion, increased confidence, and a greater sense of control over one’s environment, particularly in the face of challenges like climate change.
  • Train yourself to engage with the world without making snap judgments by stopping the habit of saying “good” or “bad” and instead using more interesting and descriptive language.

Sticking to just thumbs-up or thumbs-down limits how you engage with the world. PM Images/Photodisc via Getty Images

How many times have you used the words “good” or “bad” today?

From checking your weather app to monitoring the progress you’ve made on your to-do list, to scrolling through social media, opportunities to make snap evaluations abound. And the more you sort things into these categories, the more instinctive making these judgments becomes. You may find yourself filtering everything that comes your way in terms of “good” or “bad.”

A dark cloud triggers “bad,” a social media post of baby animals triggers “good,” a news story about a political scuffle triggers “bad.” Whether you think something is good or bad, or worthy of a like or not, is an important piece of information. But if that categorization is the only thing that’s on your mind, the only lens through which you interpret the world, you’ll miss out on a lot.

I’m a philosopher who specializes in happiness, well-being and the good life. I study how one’s state of mind influences one’s experiences of the world.

In my recent book “The Art of the Interesting,” I explore the ways the evaluative perspective squashes your ability to experience psychological richness and other positive dimensions of life. The more you instinctively react with a “good” or a “bad,” the less of the world you take in. You’ll be less likely to engage your mind, exercise curiosity and have interesting experiences.

Evaluation narrows your mind

When you instinctively label something as good or bad, you focus only on the features that make that thing good or bad.

a dark storm-cloudy sky, with a little bit of brightness showing

A storm cloud has so much more to it than a simple ‘good’ or ‘bad’ label allows for.
Pobytov/E+ via Getty Images

You look outside, and all you see is the darkness of the clouds, threatening your plans for the day. You don’t notice the cooling shade those clouds create, nor the dramatic ways the wind makes them morph. You don’t notice the flowers unfurling, nor the child walking by who is also looking up at the clouds, but with a wide-eyed look of wonder.

When snap evaluations reign, you effectively shut yourself off from a wide range of possible experiences. When everything around you is just good or bad, nothing can be perplexing, mysterious or intriguing. Nothing can be simply new, or simply challenging, or simply stimulating. Nothing is interesting, for your mind has filtered out these possible sources of cognitive engagement. It sees what it expects, and nothing else.

Open your mind for more psychological richness

Snap evaluations narrow your perspective and limit your mind’s potential to connect and engage with other aspects of your experiences. But you can unlock this potential simply by resisting any instinct to judge and instead viewing the world without trying to evaluate what you see.

Right away, you’ll start to notice more, and you’ll activate your mind’s internal drives for curiosity and exploration.

Freed from the dead-end judgments of good/bad, you can explore what is novel, allow yourself to be challenged, and tackle the complexities inherent to human experiences. Traffic jams can become sources of intrigue, rather than just a bad way to start your day. Delicious meals won’t just taste good − they spark your curiosity and stimulate your creativity. You’ll go from seeing a co-worker as difficult and irritating to recognizing them as an individual with human imperfections who’s deserving of your compassion.

You’ll also feel the pains, struggles and rewards that arise through these mental engagements. You’ll experience rich, intense moments and a greater range of emotions. You’ll find your life chock-full of unusual and unique experiences with very few instances of boredom and monotony.

Over time, your mind will become more adept at finding connections, exercising creativity and operating from a place of cognitive complexity. You’ll start to view the world more holistically, as full of connections waiting to be discovered.

All of these are signs that your life has become more psychologically rich.

woman strides through city looking up, background is blurred around her

Your same old world opens up around you when you stop judging it.
LeoPatrizi/E+ via Getty Images

Expand your mind, expand your sense of self

Psychological richness and, more generally, experiences of novelty and interestingness are valuable on their own. But there’s evidence that they’re also important due to their effects on your sense of self. When you engage in new, interesting activities, you not only broaden your horizons and develop fresh perspectives, but you also become more confident in your ability to do whatever comes next. In these ways, you expand your very sense of self.

The connection between psychological richness and self-expansion is intuitive. Novel, interesting activities stimulate the mind, challenging it to engage and explore. This process can expand your confidence in your abilities and provide you with a greater sense of control over your environment. As one’s sense of self expands, one’s very presence within the world shifts.

One recent study explored the influence of psychological richness on pro-environmental behavior. While it’s common to feel sad, anxious, angry, powerless and helpless in the face of climate change, developing psychological richness can transform these negative attitudes.

Researchers found that people who experience psychological richness were more willing to engage in sustainable activities. They believe this correlation is mediated by self-expansion, which helps subjects feel more confident that their actions would have an impact on the daunting problem of climate change.

Cut out good and bad, go for interesting instead

Everyone has the capacity to develop a sense of presence and agency in the world that enhances the very experience of life. A habit of snap evaluations inhibits this capacity, but you can train your mind to be more apt to engage and explore.

The easiest way to do this?

Stop saying, or thinking, “good” and “bad.” When you find yourself inclined to do so, force yourself to say something else. Start right now and begin your journey to engage with the world in a more rewarding way.

The Conversation

Lorraine Besser does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

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Q. Why do we often find ourselves making snap judgments about things as “good” or “bad”?
A. We make these judgments because they provide a quick and easy way to evaluate experiences, but this can lead to missing out on the complexity and richness of life.

Q. How does focusing solely on “good” or “bad” evaluations affect our mental state?
A. It narrows our perspective, limits our mind’s potential for connection and engagement, and makes us less likely to experience curiosity, exploration, and interesting moments.

Q. What happens when we stop making snap judgments about things as “good” or “bad”?
A. We start to notice more, activate our mind’s internal drives for curiosity and exploration, and can explore what is novel, allow ourselves to be challenged, and tackle complexities in human experiences.

Q. How does experiencing psychological richness affect our sense of self?
A. It broadens our horizons, develops fresh perspectives, builds confidence in our abilities, and provides a greater sense of control over our environment, ultimately expanding our very presence within the world.

Q. What is the connection between psychological richness and pro-environmental behavior?
A. Research suggests that people who experience psychological richness are more willing to engage in sustainable activities because it helps them feel more confident that their actions can have an impact on climate change.

Q. How can we train our minds to be more apt to engage and explore the world without making snap judgments about things as “good” or “bad”?
A. We can do this by stopping ourselves from saying or thinking “good” and “bad,” and instead, forcing ourselves to say something else, such as starting a conversation or exploring a new experience.

Q. What is the benefit of experiencing psychological richness in our daily lives?
A. It leads to rich, intense moments, a greater range of emotions, fewer instances of boredom and monotony, and a more holistic view of the world as full of connections waiting to be discovered.

Q. How can we incorporate more interesting experiences into our daily lives?
A. By resisting the instinct to judge things as “good” or “bad,” and instead, viewing the world without trying to evaluate what we see, allowing ourselves to explore new things, challenge ourselves, and discover novel perspectives.

Q. What is the relationship between psychological richness and personal growth?
A. Experiencing psychological richness can lead to personal growth by broadening our horizons, developing fresh perspectives, building confidence in our abilities, and providing a greater sense of control over our environment.

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