Christian professor and psychologist John...
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Christian professor and psychologist John Powell uses two analogies to help us see the difference between rigid and flexible people. Consider putting together a mosaic or jigsaw puzzle. Rigid people are unhappy with doubt; therefore, they put together a few pieces in a small and tight pattern. That is all they need; too many pieces will only confuse them.
Flexible people are open to accepting new pieces. They rearrange the new pieces, always ready to review and revise.
Or take the analogy of a detective on the search for clues. Rigid people tend to seize the first scrapes of evidence discovered and immediately arrive at definite conclusions. If new evidence does appear, rigid persons tend to make it fit into their premature conclusions.
Flexible people are more content with tentative judgments that they keep revising as new evidence comes in. Rather than bending the new facts to fit their original conclusions, they review and revise their conclusions to fit the known facts.
In summary, "Rigid people live fixed and static lives in a small world ... On the other hand, flexible people are growing people who live in an ever-expanding world."
-- Hasler
Flexible people are open to accepting new pieces. They rearrange the new pieces, always ready to review and revise.
Or take the analogy of a detective on the search for clues. Rigid people tend to seize the first scrapes of evidence discovered and immediately arrive at definite conclusions. If new evidence does appear, rigid persons tend to make it fit into their premature conclusions.
Flexible people are more content with tentative judgments that they keep revising as new evidence comes in. Rather than bending the new facts to fit their original conclusions, they review and revise their conclusions to fit the known facts.
In summary, "Rigid people live fixed and static lives in a small world ... On the other hand, flexible people are growing people who live in an ever-expanding world."
-- Hasler
