Analogue/Digital
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Analogue/Digital
A recent post exposes one of the problems faced by men in skirts.
There are all kinds of analogue spectra that can be used to describe a person:
Sex: Male -- Female
Gender: Masculine -- Feminine
Sexual preference: Opposite -- Same
Gender preference: Opposite -- Same
Voice pitch: Low -- High
Character: Aggressive -- Timid
Approach: Practical -- Frivolous
Appearance: Dull -- Decorative
Clothing: Trousers -- Skirts
...etc
The first point where things go wrong is when people insist that each of these spectra is binary and they start drawing arbitrary dividing lines which reduce the information to a single bit. Some even use the fact that they have done this as "proof" that these quantities really are binary.
The second point, which follows soon afterwards, is to use a single bit to represent all the spectra simultaneously i.e. 'Man -- Woman'. This ties everything neatly together, so someone who is Male must necessarily be Masculine and have all the other attributes allocated to them without the need for further thought. This is clearly wrong, but if someone wants to be lazy-minded and wrong, who are we to tell them how to lead their lives?
The third point, which is the one that really causes the trouble, is when these lazy-minded people turn the whole thing on its head and insist that reality must be altered to suit their binary view of the World. Unfortunate individuals whom they have allocated to a particular category must now be made to conform and no allowance can be made for individual variations, which under the binary definition cannot exist. This is the point at which one person's lazy thinking may have a serious impact on another person's life; it is also the point at which we should rebel against the stupidity which has led us to that point.
The sad fact is that lazy binary thinking appeals to the majority, so they willingly support and follow leaders who only have a single-bit brain.
There are all kinds of analogue spectra that can be used to describe a person:
Sex: Male -- Female
Gender: Masculine -- Feminine
Sexual preference: Opposite -- Same
Gender preference: Opposite -- Same
Voice pitch: Low -- High
Character: Aggressive -- Timid
Approach: Practical -- Frivolous
Appearance: Dull -- Decorative
Clothing: Trousers -- Skirts
...etc
The first point where things go wrong is when people insist that each of these spectra is binary and they start drawing arbitrary dividing lines which reduce the information to a single bit. Some even use the fact that they have done this as "proof" that these quantities really are binary.
The second point, which follows soon afterwards, is to use a single bit to represent all the spectra simultaneously i.e. 'Man -- Woman'. This ties everything neatly together, so someone who is Male must necessarily be Masculine and have all the other attributes allocated to them without the need for further thought. This is clearly wrong, but if someone wants to be lazy-minded and wrong, who are we to tell them how to lead their lives?
The third point, which is the one that really causes the trouble, is when these lazy-minded people turn the whole thing on its head and insist that reality must be altered to suit their binary view of the World. Unfortunate individuals whom they have allocated to a particular category must now be made to conform and no allowance can be made for individual variations, which under the binary definition cannot exist. This is the point at which one person's lazy thinking may have a serious impact on another person's life; it is also the point at which we should rebel against the stupidity which has led us to that point.
The sad fact is that lazy binary thinking appeals to the majority, so they willingly support and follow leaders who only have a single-bit brain.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
- moonshadow
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Re: Analogue/Digital
Imagine if we only had two choices in every matter of life....
And when you think about it, on matters where we actually only have two choices, things tend to go badly, and I'll leave it at that.
And when you think about it, on matters where we actually only have two choices, things tend to go badly, and I'll leave it at that.
-Andrea
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.
The old hillbilly from the coal fields of the Appalachian mountains currently living like there's no tomorrow on the west coast.