Dualism & how it hurts us

[nysa00]

Dualism. 1: a theory that considers reality to consist of two irreducible elements or modes2: the quality or state of being dual or of having a dual nature3 a: a doctrine that the universe is under the dominion of two opposing principles one of which is good and the other evil -- from the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Our society largely follows the philosophy of dualism. Most people believe that everything has its opposite. I believe this has harmed us as a society, because not only does everything have its opposite, but everything must be put into one of the categories of good or bad.

Consider race. We tend to think of race issues as being between "blacks" and "whites", those are the opposites. While we acknowledge other ethnic groups, we rarely consider them when discussing race. This is an improvement, to some degree. If you read 18th century texts you will often see Native American groups referred to as "red ni--ers" and people of various Asian backgrounds as "yellow ni--ers", they were not white, so not good, so they were just another shade of "black". Such groups have now been given the status of "white" (if a lesser version of white than those of European background) by most Westerners. In America in particular this is a nonsensical division, virtually every American whose ancestors have been in this country more than half-a-dozen generations have some degree of racial mixing in their blood. In 19th & early 20th century texts you will hear of "black" people leaving their home area & "passing" (as white) somewhere else. If they could "pass" as white, what exactly made them black? The fact that one or both of their parents had physical traits that were considered "black". I believe that perfectly illustrates how ridiculous the concept of race, and especially the division of races into white & not white really is.

Consider sexual orientation. Everyone knows that people are either gay or straight. Sure there are bisexuals, but most people consider them to be gay people who have sex with members of the opposite sex just to defy labels or to irritate those trying to categorize them. While tolerance is increasing, that itself tells you that one side is wrong and must either be fought or tolerated. For the vast majority straight is good, gay is bad. However, once again these labels are nonsensical. People have to argue over what makes a person gay, is it only people who engage in sexual activity with the same sex, or is it also people who fantasize or would like to have sex with people of the same sex? The truth is that gay & straight aren't opposites, they are, at most, labels for sexual activities. Imagine trying to label people as BDSMers or vanillas (non-BDSMers). Where would you draw the lines? Do you have to be tied up & wearing leather to be a BDSMer? How about people who don't engage in any kind of bondage, but like to be spanked as sexual foreplay? Are you only vanilla if you are completely repulsed by anything remotely aggressive during sex, if hair pulling & pinched bottoms are utter turn-offs? We can label people who publicly participate in BDSM activities, but we can't really divide them into BDSMers & non-BDSMers, because there is a wide spectrum. This is easier to see, but sexual orientation is no different. The percentage of people you can find that are only 100% attracted to the same sex and have 0 interest in the opposite sex, or vice-versa is tiny. The vast majority of us chose an orientation because we are told by society that we have to, but find we are attracted to people that we "aren't" supposed to be attracted to at least to some small degree.

The philosophy of dualism is divisive. All societies will construct boundaries, but the sooner we understand that all aspects of life are fluid and never precise, the sooner we can function more smoothly as a society. I believe we will always have the concepts of good and bad, but we must accept that those are extremes, with so much in between that is neither good or bad. Thus most people, activities and philosophies should not be categorized with those labels.