False binaries

Cheap and worthless

Expensive and priceless

Quality or quantity

Political or honest

This or that

Black and white

Modern or traditional

Functional or artistic

[you, dear reader, can add other examples of your own]

Many of these binaries are false. Sometimes, these things aren’t mutually exclusive.

We should know this when we choose based on this false impression.

That several people don’t care enough to treat each variable alone, then together doesn’t mean they can’t be useful together.

There are false dichotomies everywhere. Once we see them, we can’t unsee them.

The least we can do is to question their legitimacy. But that’s often not enough.

We can always refuse to engage with these binaries. We can always go beyond them and create fusions that work.

We can always show ourselves what’s possible.