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Introduction

This is a common theme running through many of the issues we face: it is very easy to see the world as a set of binary choices - either this is true, or that is.  Climate change is either man-made, or it is not; euthanasia is either a good thing or a bad thing; we have to support global capitalism or reject it.

In real life, some of our choices really are binary: either I apply for this job, or I don't.  But even then, other possibilities might exist: perhaps I could apply and ask them to consider a job share, or different start date, or part-time work, or being based in a different office or working from home for part of the week?

But, even if our choices are sometimes binary, the issues we face rarely are.  Supporters of each side may like to present us with a binary choice, and paint the opposition in the worst possible light, but very often both truth and goodness can be found in both camps if we look hard enough.

Logic in the Real World

An underlying issue is that we feel logic should apply to the real world.  But the connection between logic and reality is a complicated one.  Like mathematics, logic exists in a universe of its own, which often connects with the 'real' world we live in - but doesn't connect as fully or as often as we might like.

So, in logic, the statement 'all x are y' is equivalent to the statement 'all non-y are non-x'.  For example, 'all swans are white' is equivalent to 'all non-white things are not swans'.  But, in the real world, you test the first (a statement about swans) by looking at all swans and asking whether they are white; you test the second (a statement about non-white things) by looking at all things which are not white, and asking whether they are swans.

Similarly, in logic, the law of the excluded middle applies: a statement is either true or it is false - there is no third option.  But, in the real world, there are many statements where you need a third option - such as Russell's "The present King of France is bald" (there is no present King of France) and "I believe that intelligent aliens exist" (I may believe that intelligent aliens do not exist, but I also may not believe either statement).

There are many valid uses of logic, but it is easy to get tripped up when, for one reason or another, your logic does not apply to the real world in the way you think it should.

Tribal Thinking

Linked with the temptation of binary thinking, we have the reality that we belong to various kinds of tribes, and these tribes are frequently in conflict with one another - and even when we don't belong to a tribe, we often feel the need to identify with or support them.  So, while people in the UK are unlikely to be citizens of Israel or Palestinian, many people in the UK are very clear that they support one side or the other.  And, if you express any support for people on one side, you are automatically assumed to be against the other side.