Ask any small child, "What is the opposite of DOG," and you will likely get the answer, "CAT!"
This is a symptom of human nature. We like to think in opposites. We like to put things in their holes. And if our choices are seemingly limited to two things, they must be opposites.
In the child's case, people have dogs as pets, and people have cats as pets. Also, they are known for getting in fights with each other. Therefore, in the child's mind, they are opposites.
But we do this into our adulthood. If we are presented with two things that are not the same, especially if we favor one of them, we think of them as opposites. Coke vs. Pepsi. White people vs. Black people. Democrat vs. Republican. Man vs. Woman. It all comes down to an old, basic, tribal survival instinct:
Us vs. NOT US.
And while this tendency- this instinct even- is built in, our intelligence can override it. As adults, we know that CAT is not the opposite of DOG. But people who want to effect our thinking know to play to this instinct. They tell us Coke IS the opposite of Pepsi; White IS the opposite of Black. Democrats ARE the opposite of Republican. Man IS the opposite of Woman.
It is to their advantage to do so. It is to both "sides" advantage to do so.
On the most innocuous level, take Coke and Pepsi. By keeping us in the mindset that they are opposites, or even opposite sides of the same coin, they are driving into our minds that they are the only two choices. They are driving from our minds that there are any other possibilities. Like R.C. Cola or Faygo, both of which, I may add, are delicious.
Our two-party political system perpetuates the idea that the two parties are opposites, and therefore the only two choices, keeping out other parties on all but the most local levels. Some people sense this and react the other way. They see the illusion for the illusion it is, but believe that the truth is that Democrats and Republicans are actually the SAME THING.
This is the difference between intelligence and lazy thinking. It's really coming from the exact same trap: the opposite of OPPOSITE is SAME. If things are not opposites, they must, therefore, be the same thing.
In reality, very few things we deal with are opposites of each other. They have opposing qualities that must be considered, but what also must be considered is that there are many, many more possibilities than ever cross our minds.
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