Why do people here seem to deal exclusively in binomials?

Question

Or to put it more simply.... people seem to view everything in black and white..... when perhaps they should be viewing it in shades of gray.

Unless a binomial is strictly stated beforehand, I cannot think of a single situation where "Not A, therefore B" would be a valid judgement.
So why do people do it so often?


If I'm not a woman I must be a man?
Not if I'm an androgyne or hermaphrodite.

If I'm not heterosexual I must be gay?
Not if I'm bisexual or asexual.

If not left then it must be right?
Not if you count forwards, backwards, up, down or any of the diagonals.

If I'm not totally right then I must be totally wrong?
Never.

If I'm not totally wrong then I must be totally right?
Likewise... NEVER.


And I dare anyone to test me on this.

{ Primoa... you couldn't be further from reality if you tried. In fact, life deals EXCLUSIVELY in gray areas. There is no black and white except in the human imagination. The very fact that you believe in such discredits all you believe in. }

{ Kishimojun .... You're forgetting the other types of christians... and the Muslims.... and the countless other idiots in the world. }

{ alleninthehills ..... The line between "alive" and dead isn't anything like clear-cut. Folks might like to think it is, but does one define the end of life by the termination of brain-function, the stopping of the heart, the stopping of the lungs... or what? These all end at different points in time. Not only that but even after a person appears to be dead they can sometimes be brought back to life with medical help if done quickly enough. Dying is a process... not just one step over a line. }

{ Windom... you might have had something to do with it.... but you overestimate your own importance if you think you were the exclusive cause. I've had an issue with the attitude demonstrated for quite some time now. }

{ emptywun .... God doesn't exist, so he isn't totally right. }

{ Phate... Boolean works too... but there is nothing wrong with picking the word I decided to use. The important part in the meaning is something both words share.
In any case, you seem to be assuming I was referring to all humans. I did ensure in my wording that I was dictating an apparent trend.... and a trend isn't generally 100% applicable. I therefore see no validity in your criticism.
And if you round things off to "gay" and "not gay" you are effectively pre-stating it as a boolean / binomial ... which as it happens has no place in real life (homosexuality doesn't just come in "on" and "off", but at variable levels).
Nice try though. }

{ Doctor John ..... if that was so, then Neutral particles wouldn't exist. }

{ Primoa again..... Jesus is dead and gone. No part of his remains validates you nor your beliefs in any way. }

Answer 1

A much smarter one than you naked monkeys. That much is certain. (To previous answer)


Anyway. People here are on average simple-minded. You know that. The reason for this is that alongside the few intelligent individuals around, there are a great many total and utter idiots. As you have said yourself, their capacity for reason is rather low. They cannot think in more than one step at a time.
That is why... when they have taken the step of eliminating what they believe to be a fallacy, they automatically assume that they have therefore arrived at their goal.

To assume otherwise unfortunately takes multi-stage reasoning, which isn't something most of them are capable of.

Now whether you can actually train some of them to do it.... that is the question.

Answer 2

You're assumption holds some weight. But some people do think outside the box or see the box in a different light.

As an example at work someone once called in and said their brother's dog died and they had to go console him. A lot of us chuckled at that one until a smarter one reminded us this person was Hindu and they believe in reincarnation and view animals as family members, basically.

All of a sudden, looking at it from a total different relativistic presepctive didn't seem so funny anymore.

People don't think relativistically. They think simplistically based on what they see, know, experience and believe.

People look at religion this way.

The big laugh is Jesus walking on water, which defies logical thinking therefore it must be wrong. The opposite side said faith can do miracles.

I recently read a science abstract on using a force method to repell objects. Levitation, essentially.

It's only going to work on a small scale, but it leaves open the possiblity that if someone knows the process or has the means they can walk on water.

The force, by the way, comes from studes of the Gekko and how it can attach it's tale to a wall and swing without sticky stuff or anything like it. It uses a special type of force they discovered.

In short it's tail becomes like a magnet to steel.

Anyone knows if you take to magnets of the same polarity they repell each other.

Now the Gekko does this naturally, making use of a nature force.

Do don't be surprised to find rescue workers 400 years from today walking on the rivers and lakes when a bridge collapses to find victims and reach debris. It is not impossible and science is working on it.

The HG Wells concept of anti-gravity plating is not as far fetched as it seems.

It may not be as simple as a plate or it may require a power supply to that plate but one day we may indeed travel to Mars without the need for rockets.

But people think in concrete terms of it's possible it's not possible.

Most often they use their religious views.

Atheists have science and if science says it can't be done then the great god science can't be wrong or questioned.

The same applies to Christians, Jews, Muslims.

Answer 3

No test from me. It's totallly true and you're totally right.

That's why I cringe every time I read a question starting off with "Why do all...." of which there are A TON on YA. Most proceed from there to make some kind of incredibly stupid blanket statement about all gay people or all atheists or all Christians or all Martians or whatever.

Blacks and whites only exist on the color wheel and in the moralities of very basic, spiritually immature people. Sadly, basicness and immaturity seem to be the way some people grow old and die.

Answer 4

I'm a Christian too, but I see things almost exactly opposite as Primoa does when it comes to this. I think most everything in life is a gray area.

That's where legalism falls short. You can say that lying is a sin, but is still a sin if doing so saves someone's life? "Right" and "wrong" almost always have exceptions.

Now, why do people here deal in binomials? First, it's R&S, and most mainstream religions are dualistic in nature. Secondly, the "if you're not for us you're against us" mindset and that whole "us vs. them" dischotomy is ingrained in the American culture, and I think the majority of R&Sers are American.

Answer 5

I suppose this is why some of the Structuralists believed that human thought is based on binary oppositions. I think it could be true.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Structuralism

Or it could be because they are educated STUPID by evil professors:
http://www.timecube.com/

primoa1970: you believe there are no gray areas in life? None? Jeez! Haven't you ever, oh, I don't know, tried some soup which was OK but you didn't really care for it that much, or haven't you ever watched good sequels to films which paled in comparison to the first, but was kind of OK?

Or is everything in your life just 100% fantastic or 100% horrible?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58-lc-xXuDg

Answer 6

I am terrible at math but I wholeheartedly agree with the other points you make. To me there is no exact right or total wrong.. there are as many shades of gray as there are people with opinions (hey that sounds good I may use that on my 360 blast LOL)

Answer 7

daring?
do you play double dare??

and primoa, foolish statement. life is full of shades of grey, otherwise life would be much simpler and far more boring than it is now....except maybe if you dont have much imagination i suppose

anyway back to the question..

why do people deal in binomials?
because it makes their lives easier.
because that way they have no need to question the world around them.
because thinking may be painful when those people are not used to it.
because they cannot 'think outside the box'

which is why certain people and their questions and/or answers, their lifestyles, their beliefs etc, are so difficult for them.

blessed be

Answer 8

First i think you are using the wrong big word (look up what binomial actually means) and i think you were refering to boolean (yes or no)

second if things are purely measured within black / white and yes / no then the statement will read as follows;

i am gay or i am not gay (instead of i am not heterosexual therefore i am gay).

Thus your "theory" is based on generalistic assumption that human kind assumes the worst as first alternative which is usually true but simply generalistic and not fact.

nice try though

Answer 9

I believe humans think in terms of black and white, good and bad, dark and light because of physiology. Because we are primarily a sight oriented species and because we can't see in the dark. What sort of religion and philosophy would a nocturnal animal develop if they were capable?

Answer 10

Because they don't think outside the box.

EDIT: Earl D - I'm an atheist, and I believe in science as the most logical explanation for things, but I know it's not infallible and is faith just like religions...it just has more evidence behind it.