Wow, do I know his feeling. I call it 'Coke/Pepsi' binary thinking. The notion that the World is essentially binary, instead of a multi-dimensional varied landscape of gradients.
I often think that the urge to group the world in binary choices are a result of a mind overwhelmed by complexity. There are too many choices, too many things to understand well to see the grey scales. The ability to abstract the complexity into simple choices is a matter of survival.
It is often said that a great commander in a war makes the right choices quickly, but to survive it is often enough to keep making choices. Attack or retreat? Standing still means the enemy has the initiative and this will kill you.
Maybe the ability to abstract complex dilemmas down to Coke/Pepsi choices is a survival tactic which worked well. :)
I often find myself in agreement with Fry's seemingly incompatible interests. Like his appreciation for the Free Software movement[1] as well as Apple's achievements[2].
I think you are right. I think that an issue here is the assumed "more then others" so the question "Do you like the Beatles?" carries the connotation "Do you like the Beatles more than other bands?" Its a nuance of the language I think rather then an attempt to lock someone into an either or situation.
C.S.Lewis has had some clever things to say on the topic. There's this brilliant paragraph in MereChristianity that goes:
"… so many people cannot be brought to realise that when B is better than C, A may be even better than B. They like thinking in terms of good and bad, not of good, better, and best, or bad, worse and worst. They want to know whether you think patriotism a good thing: if you reply that it is, of course, far better than individual selfishness, but that it is inferior to universal charity and should always give way to universal charity when the two conflict, they think you are being evasive."
The implication is that if you enjoy Family Guy, you must not like The Simpsons, while his point is that it is perfectly reasonable that one could enjoy both.
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[ 43.8 ms ] story [ 1749 ms ] threadBut then on the whole Coke/Pepsi argument I am more a Dr. Pepper drinker.
From the song 'Wonderful' - "There are precious few at ease with moral ambiguities, so they act as if they don't exist".
But that thinking starts so early on. Most movies I watch with my 4yr old son now, he'll ask "Is he a baddie", "Is he a goodie".
It is often said that a great commander in a war makes the right choices quickly, but to survive it is often enough to keep making choices. Attack or retreat? Standing still means the enemy has the initiative and this will kill you.
Maybe the ability to abstract complex dilemmas down to Coke/Pepsi choices is a survival tactic which worked well. :)
[1]: http://www.gnu.org/fry/
[2]: http://www.stephenfry.com/2010/01/28/ipad-about/
http://www.solipsys.co.uk/new/TwoAndAHalfMen.html?HN
Modern "Geek" culture actually seems very adept at bridging that gap.
"… so many people cannot be brought to realise that when B is better than C, A may be even better than B. They like thinking in terms of good and bad, not of good, better, and best, or bad, worse and worst. They want to know whether you think patriotism a good thing: if you reply that it is, of course, far better than individual selfishness, but that it is inferior to universal charity and should always give way to universal charity when the two conflict, they think you are being evasive."
Think this applies here, too.
"You\We are both right!" Helps wonders.
I don't see how this relates to the rest of the examples.