Seeing reality as right or wrong, good or bad, all or nothing, is an example of binary or dichotomous thinking. Either-or propositions recognize only two opposing possibilities without anything in between. A black or white binary world leaves no room for increments of gray from one extreme to another to form a tyranny of opposites.
If the thesis says it’s black, a proposition; antithesis says it’s white, in direct opposition; then synthesis proposes a gray area in between. Without synthesis we’re stuck in a dichotomy. Synthesis, an alternative, moves us to solve the conflict by finding what the thesis and antithesis have in common. Black and white are colors, as are shades of gray.
Private ownership in capitalism or state-owned socialism presents a false dichotomy by limiting options. Synthesis offers worker-owned industry as an option. Instead of master/slave or lord/serf, an employer/employee relationship is a dichotomy of powerful owners and powerless workers. As an alternative, worker cooperatives allow employees to be their own bosses.
Religious dichotomy is formed when theism is the thesis and atheism is the antithesis. Common ground is found in that both deal with questions of creation and being. Synthesis resolves the contradiction through a third consideration, called spirituality, not to be defined by nor confused with religious dogma. Spirituality, inner directed, not authority driven is a quest to explain the mystery of the outer world and our relationship to it.
Dichotomous thinking is found in our current polarized political climate. Boundaries and walls keep matters separate and simple by closing out complexity. “Us against them,” dichotomous worldview locks us into a tyranny of opposites. Oversimplifying removes doubt, difficulty and uncertainty about who is friend or foe. In tyranny it’s the ruler and the ruled, in democracy there is only us!
Harold Honkola
Stillwater