Just to be safe I checked the definitions of the words I’m about to use. I challenge you to find definitions that contradict what I say here.
And why should we care? Because we live in a society where we want the comfort of clear dichotomies: divisions or contrasts between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different. In other words, we like to think in terms of opposites like male-female, good-bad, honest-dishonest, you name it.
Politicians propose laws that require oppositeness, literally enforcing differences that don’t exist in nature. In other words, there are areas where we must distort the truth in order to live legally. Or maybe even to live at all.
So what, really does opposite mean?
Adjective: diametrically different; of a contrary kind; completely different.
Noun: a person or thing that is totally different from or the reverse of someone or something else.
Right now I’m thinking of the political inaccuracy of pretending there are only two sexes: male and female. It’s just not true. Like everything else you can think of, the characteristics exist on a continuum. So, I repeat, in order to live legally one has to behave like a round peg trying to fit into a square hole. If we lived without such control – i.e. were truly free – differences could be dealt with in healthy ways with full understanding.
Oh but, you’re going to argue, at least black and white are opposites. Look it up. They aren’t.
What you see as a pigment with a black color or a light with a white color actually contains various light or dark colors. Nothing can be pure white or pure black, except unfiltered sunlight or the depths of a black hole.
What a free world it would be if we lived with reality instead of imposed dichotomies.
monagustafsonaffinito 