Psychologists Reveal the 1 Phrase High-Level Thinkers Avoid To Foster Open Dialogue
Follow Psychologists Reveal the 1 Phrase High-Level Thinkers Avoid To Foster Open Dialogue Alani Vargas Fri, August 7, 2026 at 10:43 PM UTC 3 min read Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google.
Psychologists Reveal the 1 Phrase High-Level Thinkers Avoid To Foster Open Dialogue
Key takeaways Powered by Yahoo Scout. Yahoo is using AI to generate key points from this article. This means the info may not always match what’s in the article. Reporting mistakes helps us improve the experience. High-level thinkers possess elevated critical thinking skills, constantly questioning, observing patterns, and seeking solutions, while embracing creativity and nuance in complex topics. One phrase high-level thinkers never use is “That’s just the way it is,” as it closes the door on questioning, curiosity, and the potential for change, which is antithetical to their nature of open-ended questions and innovation. High-level thinkers avoid absolutes and respect differing perspectives, using phrases that encourage dialogue and further information to concretize learning and formulate their own thoughts and beliefs. See more There are lots of psychology-related terms out there now, what with therapy-speak being so prevalent and mental health being a (rightfully) popular topic on social media. And while you might have heard of high emotional intelligence or high-level gaslighters , have you heard of high-level thinkers? No, it’s not a combination of those two things, but it isn’t as complex as it may sound.
High-level thinkers are people who go beyond the norm and possess, well, elevated critical thinking skills. They’re constantly questioning things around them, observing patterns and thinking of ways to solve problems. They aren’t know-it-alls , and they’re open to new ideas and diverse ways of thinking. These individuals are often very creative and embrace nuance when it comes to complicated topics.
As you can imagine, there are lots of things that they typically do or say, and psychologists broke down phrases high-level thinkers use in a previous article, which gives a good idea of how they process things. Among their findings, they shared with Parade one phrase that high-level thinkers would never say since it really shuts down conversations. Read on to find out what it is, and how to speak with a bit more forethought like high-level thinkers do.
Related: Psychologists Say High-Level Thinkers Avoid These 14 Common ‘Mental Mistakes’
Psychologist Reveals 1 Phrase High-Level Thinkers Never Use: ‘That’s Just the Way It Is’ As Dr. Elisabeth Crain, PsyD , a doctor of psychology and licensed psychotherapist, told Parade at the time, “High-level thinking goes out of the ordinary and beyond the regular regurgitation of facts or parroting of information that we hear on TV or read in the news.”
Advertisement Advertisement So with that in mind, one phrase that they’re not going to say is, “That’s just the way it is.”
“This statement closes the door on questioning, curiosity and the possibility of change,” Dr. Gayle MacBride, PhD, LP, a psychologist and the co-founder of Veritas Psychology Partners , shared. “It’s antithetical to the very nature of high-level thinking, which thrives on open-ended questions and the potential for innovation.”
Related: 6 Subtle Traits of People Who Often Catastrophize, According to Psychologists
For a similar reason, high-level thinkers also don’t tell people they’re wrong.
“They respect the fact that others have different ways of thinking, even if they don’t agree with their methods,” Dr. Crain stated. “They don’t put absolutes on things because they know that ideas are malleable and that they change and shift over time. They do not say things like, ‘It is 100% this way.'”
Related: 9 Phrases That Signal Someone Has a ‘Victim Mindset,’ According to Psychologists
What To Say To Keep a Conversation Open to New Ideas Like a High-Level Thinker As Dr. MacBride shared, high-level thinkers are really good “at zooming out to see how the pieces fit together, understanding that details are part of larger systems.” And because of this, a lot of phrases that they’d say in a conversation so as not to stifle it are very encouraging and lead dialogue forward.
Advertisement Advertisement “They seek further information to concretize what they’re learning,” Dr. Crain said. “When we learn about something and understand it, we can then concretize and master it and finally formulate our own thoughts and beliefs around it.”
So in terms of phrases that high-level thinkers might say to keep a conversation going—and not use “That’s just the way it is”—here are some ideas to do just that:
“What’s the bigger picture here?”
“What if we approached it this way instead?”
“I can see how you may see it this way. However, to me, it looks more like this…”
“Can we find a pattern?”
“I’d like to listen to what you have to say about it…”
“Can you tell me more about…”
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Sources: Dr. Elisabeth Crain, PsyD , is a doctor of psychology and licensed psychotherapist.
Dr. Gayle MacBride, PhD, LP , is a psychologist and co-founder of Veritas Psychology Partners.
Advertisement Advertisement This story was originally published by Parade on Aug 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the Life section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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