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“Binary paths belong in bygone past, all things civilized are non-binary.”― Abhijit Naskar
If thinking precedes action, it’s never more vital to examine how we think than in times of crisis, division, and fear. Despite the lessons of the past and our ever expanding access to information, we seem unable to move beyond binary ways of thinking.
Binary thinking is essentially a way to organise the world into ‘good/bad,’ ‘true/false’, ‘is/is not,’ or ‘with us/against us.’ Crucially, according to Jacques Derrida, our binary thinking, particularly in the West, is defined in terms of opposition, where ‘one governs the other,’ or is superior to the other, e.g. man/woman, mind/body. This kind of thinking, he argued, was arbitrary and needed to be deconstructed.
A consequence of binary thinking is that it leads us to look for things that reinforce what we already believe is true and will become increasingly dismissive of anyone who disagrees with us (with the helpful guidance of social networks). Slowly, we lose our capacity for nuance and ‘grey area’ thinking.
This is a dangerous place to be in, Pema Chödrön warns, because what happens when people don’t agree with us, do we find ourselves getting angry and aggressive? “If we look into the very moment of anger or aggression, we might see that this is what wars are made of,” she writes.
We can see today increased polarisation, fragmentation and isolation in our societies, at the interpersonal and global level. The result, Otto Sharmer argues, is that our societies are no longer able “to hold spaces for making sense of complex social issues and analyse them from different perspectives.”
This creates blindspots, he says, and has resulted in the West’s inability to see its role and complicity in what we now see unfolding in Ukraine. “If we step back a bit to look at the deeper cognitive structure that is giving rise to this war, what do we see? We see a system that leads us to collectively create results that nobody wants,” he observes.
It also affects how we act, including whether and how we choose to help. As binary thinking tends to overly simplify complex issues, we are more likely to be seduced by simple solutions that rarely address the underlying causes of the problem; but they make us feel and look good.
Furthermore, while solidarity for the victims of war is, of course, a positive and necessary side effect to conflict, we are brought together because of a common enemy. It is a way to express our own rage. Are we not at risk then, of adding more aggression and causing further division?
So what can we do about this? How can we deconstruct our thinking?
Sharmer suggests there are two internal conditions from which we can choose to operate. The first one is what he calls ‘Putinism’ (but also ‘Trumpism’ and other harmful behaviours leading to the destruction of the planet) which he refers to as the closing of the mind, heart and will, which results in ignorance, hate and fear.
The second choice is what he refers to as the opening of the mind, heart and will, which results in curiosity, compassion, and courage.
It’s in this space that humility can be cultivated, where we can begin to let go of our tightly held beliefs and perhaps seek comfort in the grey area. It is in this space that we can seek wise action.
As Chödrön illustrates: “Everything is ambiguous; everything is always shifting and changing, and there are as many different takes on any given situation as there are people involved. Trying to find absolute rights and wrongs is a trick we play on ourselves to feel secure and comfortable.”
Given the distressing times in which we find ourselves, perhaps we should seek wisdom in the most unlikely of places: a kindergarten. We end this post by sharing some wise words for fixing the world by four-year old Brayden (you read that correctly!) which has been animated by Ukrainian artist Stas Santimov.
BULLETS
by Brayden
Sit down, world
and relax
so you don’t have tornadoes.
Trees, color your leaves.
Relax, people. Go to sleep.
Relax, wolves. Lay down by the trees.
Relax, bullets from guns.
Stop shooting people.
Fire, eat wood.
Words, Veronica Yates and illustration, Miriam Sugranyes
References
Handcrafted Humanity: 100 Sonnets For A Blunderful World, Abhijit Naskar
‘Saussurean Structuralism,’ Nasrullah Mambrol, Literary Theory and Criticism
‘Derrida: The Father of Deconstruction,’ Jayant Prasad. New Derrida
When Things Fall Apart, Heart advice for difficult times, Pema Chödrön
‘Putin and the Power of Collective Action from Shared Awareness: A 10-Point Meditation on Our Current Moment,’ Otto Sharmer, The Presencing Institute
‘How to Fix a World: A Four-Year-Old’s Prayerful Poem,’ Animated by a Ukrainian Artist, The Marginalian, by Maria Popova
Preschool Poets: https://www.preschoolpoets.org/documentary
Further resources
‘Who Deserves our Compassion,’ by Obenewa Amponsah, blog post 4 March 2022
On Tyranny, Twenty lessons from the Twentieth Century, Timothy Snyder
‘Learn the Three Types of Binary Thinking,’ by Clearthinking
Be More Pirate Podcast: The Uncertainty Experts, Alex Barker and Sam Conniff
The Death of Nuance podcast, BBC, with Oliver Burkeman
“What do you do when the highway’s famished? When it eats people? When soldiers are walking on the streets beating people up, what do you do? Where do you go when going forward is no longer possible? I think you steal through cracks. I think you do what fugitives do. I think you do what the slaves on slave ships did when they were dominated by colonial powers. You learn to fall down and sit still and await the crossroads. You learn to listen. You learn to compost yourself.” — Bayo Akomolafe
“I sat with anger long enough until she told me her real name was grief.” — C.S. Lewis
"Humility is admitting that I don’t know the whole story. Compassion is recognising that you don’t know it either."— Anon
