And I DON’T mean the current political shenanigans in the UK.
I’m referring to the way we are manipulated, by the media, factionalism and our own tendency to like nice, clean answers. Because this is the way we like it. We are drawn into false dichotomies left, right and centre (I’ve just spotted my error, there is no centre with a dichotomy, so make that “left and right”).
Very few things in life come down to either/or. That’s a construct that suits how our minds work and we have adopted it wholesale. Aristotle was partly to blame for this state of affairs (I only threw that it because it seems that some people think blame is important). But there are other ways to think that don’t obscure our choices or restrict our creativity the way an imposed two-way choice does.
Look around you. Very few things have a clean dividing line between two opposites. North and South? There are 360 degrees there. Black and white, the palette colours, never mind shades, hues and textures, is infinite.
The next time someone asks you for a yes/no answer, try responding with a question of your own. It could lead to a conversation, something we can’t do alone.
