One thing most people these days seem absolutely certain about-and yes,this is a bit ironic-is that absolutist thinking is bad.Making inflexible demands of the world,then losing temper when they"re unmet,is no path to happiness.Nor is seeing every issue in black and white,or refusing to be friends with anyone who doesn"t share every one of your views.Absolutism is no healthier when turned inwards,either,where it manifests as perfectionism.Yet we all engage in absolutist thinking anyway,because it"s easier:we cling to simple rules depression.It"s easy to see why absolutism might trigger distress:the more rigid your map of the world,the more opportunities you"re creating for that map to collide with the messiness of reality.