Our world has become so oversimplified,
everything is either right or wrong, black or white, A or B, but the question
may have been: “How are you?” The fact is that modern society is obsessed with
data and correlations, and you simply cannot make such bold generalizations
with an answer like: “Well I’m alright; a little tired ‘cuz I had to work late
last night, but other than that it’s been a pretty good day.” Dichotomous
variables, limiting things to two choices, or even a few more, have proven very
useful in that we now have data on just about everything imaginable. Are you a
pregnant woman over 45 wondering what your chances of finding love in a dive
bar on a Thursday night are? There’s probably a study that can estimate that
for you.
Data is great, and the advances of social
sciences have been massive thanks to dichotomous studies, but there is a
pitfall in trying to oversimplify something as complex as society. This trend
has bled into all walks of life, and we’ve become either too lazy or too
apathetic to delve any deeper. It is far more simple to ask someone if they
like coffee or if they like tea, but I tend to prefer coffee if I am tired and
drinking tea when I am at home for the day and can make several cups in
succession, but then of course lattes are simply perfect for relaxing after a stressful
day, and what if I am eating, because tea goes great with sushi, but you simply
must have coffee with crescents. The point that I am completely belaboring
here, is that I hate answering dichotomous questions, because they never seem
to tell the whole story.
That is my reason for writing this essay,
and for this whole collection. I usually choose not to identify with most
categorizations, because I never find anything to be quite close enough to how
I truly feel on the subject. So, to my millions of adoring fans or anyone who
cares to know, I would like to share for your reading pleasure a full and
detailed account of my views on various topics. Thank you for your time, I hope
you enjoy, and feel free to make any comments or suggestions for future topics.
-AMS
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