"The Rush to Judgment: Binary Thinking in a Digital Age"

What are the roots of polarized dualistic thinking? How do we push past the limitations of ossified positions? Can we change? Are we hardwired to think only in dualistic ways?
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"The Rush to Judgment: Binary Thinking in a Digital Age"
Peter Lurie
CTHEORY

Contrast is power. The greater the distinction between one position and another, the stronger its credentials. We have an atavistic impulse toward opposition: every analysis of a concept or thing reverts to a sketch of its converse. Since dualism is invariably invoked as a hermeneutic aid, we don't notice its role in structuring our thoughts, in shaping and finally constraining our understanding. After thousands of years of a binary approach to political, philosophical, economic and sociological problems, we have let our imagination ossify. We are three-dimensional beings imprisoned within a two-dimensional perspective.

Banners and slogans are distilled ideas: reductionism is our weakness. In the run-up to the invasion of Iraq, a baldly dualist perspective changed the terms of debate and made both a peaceful resolution or a broader coalition force impossible. Protestors around the world chanted 'No Blood for Oil.' Supporters responded: 'Anti-war Is Pro-terrorism.' Still others wanted a more finely-tuned discussion about the long-term effectiveness of inspections backed by the threat of force. Polls taken in February suggested that such a policy had the support of pluralities and perhaps majorities in England, America and even Germany, but it was a position that required elaboration and compromise.[1] In the event, they never had the chance. Strident voices hijacked the debate and marched off in opposite directions, bullhorns blaring. Polarized ranting made real discourse impossible. The war might have been avoided or more broadly supported -- in either case, a less divisive and discouraging result, one with better long-term prospects of success.

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The need for a more imaginative mindset is pressing, even urgent. There is no life at the poles, or at least not much of it. The action is south of the Arctic and north of the Southern Ocean. We live there; we must think there as well. Just as the beauty of black & white photography lies less in pure blacks and perfect whites than in the 11-tone gray scale, we must learn to think across a continuum. The power of an Ansel Adams print is less in the intrinsic majesty of Half Dome, which is photographed thousands of times each day, than in Adams' mastery of the zone system, a rigorously calibrated method of controlling exposure, development and printing to maximize range and density. The zone system is famously difficult. Adams used it to locate as many as 25 gray tones, but most photographers have happily abandoned the zone system in favor of the tinkering pleasures of Photoshop. As citizens, however, we don't have that luxury. We must think broadly on an open plane. That will require courage and, like the great basketball player, a sense of where we are. We don't think that way, but we should.

Entire Essay

Also by Peter Lurie:

Why the Web Will Win the Culture Wars for the Left: Deconstructing Hyperlinks