The rush to make a statement on everything, to have an opinion on every controversy as soon as possible, and to rush to provide an explanation on any matter. This is the kind of world revolutionized mass communication has created, where everyone is under pressure to take a side and have their opinion at the earliest possible time.
All the distinguished, opinionated people of the society are in fear of getting missed out, so they rush to put their take on any hot topic as soon as possible. However, this phenomenon has not just diluted the quality of thought and nuances of it but also created 'The Problem of Binary Thinking.'
'The Problem of Binary Thinking' is justifying any issue or personality as black or white, right or wrong, or good or bad. This approach of examining any matter leaves behind any scope for the specified scrutiny.
So, the very first question is how this problem has arisen, and then why this is concerning.
As already mentioned, the fundamental reason behind the rise of this problematic approach is the ‘impatience.’ People are not patient enough and have no interest in going into the nuanced analysis of any topic or personality, and this is the reality for both sides, either speakers or listeners. Everyone wants to understand everything in two minutes and doesn't have patience beyond that, as they want to carry an opinion or take a side at the earliest possibility.
One major reason behind this is that people often try to save themselves from being called 'hypocrite,’ as this is the tag that is usually referred to the people who have an opinion for both of the sides.
But is having an opinion for both sides really hypocrisy?
Perhaps not, at least not in my way of thinking. Any matter or any issue has many attributes attached to it; it may have certain things that must be criticized, and at the very same time, it may have certain things that must be praised, and this is true about both any issue and any personality. However, accepting this as reality and living with it doesn't seem usual in today's world.
For instance, you may go to any news debate show and witness how two people are pitying each other over the character of a certain historical personality or perhaps over any cultural practice. We often see debates over personalities like Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, or Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. People on one side would give a detailed account of how they struggled for the freedom and for the welfare of the people, while the other would list all the shortcomings in their thoughts and how they have failed. Neither of them is ready to give a second thought to his opinion, not even to listen to the other. And after the whole debate, they would still be on the same page while going to another one with the same script.
Such discussions overlook the simple fact that no person or thought in this universe can be categorized as all right or all wrong. Apparently, all the personalities mentioned above had a great contribution to our nation; nevertheless, we can’t say they were all right in all of their thoughts and methods. So, it’s better to judge each of their opinions on its own parameter, without wholly categorizing someone as right or wrong.
But this is ‘The Problem of Binary Thinking,’ which we are discussing. Now this problem is not just limited to our discussions or debates; it also impacts the way our society moves ahead and the way our society formulates their opinions over anything. Amid this binary way of thinking, the society has lost its depth and cognitive critical ability to truly judge any person or his idea. The elaborated, nuanced, and deep analysis of any matter, where all the pros and cons are discussed without any prejudice in a balanced manner, is something that is very rarely seen in today’s society. People’s declining patience for it is alarming for the intellectual maturity of our society.
Our goal must be to create a multifaceted society, where any personality, opinions, thoughts, and ideas are not taken as right or wrong, good or bad, or black or white, but rather must be discussed so deliberately that all the aspects of it could come upfront, and then blame the blameworthy and applaud the appreciable, notwithstanding judging the whole personality or idea in the binary way.
— Saurabh Srivastava