Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Autopilot vs. dimmer switch

It must be freeing to only think in terms of twos: black and white; all or none; on and off; binary opposition. Nothing in the middle, no grays, no sometimeses, not a dimmer switch in sight. It confounds me, it really does. Decisions must be so uncomplicated… they already made them, a long time ago! Autopilot, anyone? Sigh.

Thoughtlessness would provide such clarity, yes? Part of me envies their decision making with the easy button: their disregard for others, vainglorious strutting, and all their extra hours free of worry, reflection, constant inspiration and not enough time to do it all.

But the other part of me reminds me how unevolved they are, how often they reject reason, and how they live a life without philosophy. How unintelligent! How boorish! How… empty.

Me? It’s all on a dimmer switch. I’m the person who when confronted with an “All…” statement, disagrees and reminds them of the “exception to the rule”.* Except the exception isn’t always an exception. Maybe the “exception” IS the rule, and the “All”-ers are the exceptions. The difference between us and them is that their speaking voice may be louder.

And hey, their speaking voice may be louder, but our cup? It’s always more full.




*(Whatever that is. Are there exceptions? Are there rules?)

1 comment:

Paula said...

Yes. You've touched on something I think about frequently and why I am often at a disadvantage in arguments with THEM. It's because I can see different sides to things, shades of grey. I'm not a black or white absolutist, not even about things that I believe strongly in. Huh? Isn't that a contradiction?! Well, not really. I can be super pro X, and yet... I can see how under certain circumstances X might be wrong. Yup, I can see a light shade o grey there. But otter peeps, NO NO NO. X is always right! Y is always wrong. CASE CLOSED. No moar thinking! Slam the mind shut, boom. Ugh. I find it very difficult to deal with these men, oops did I say men? I meant people. ;)