rattus rattus’ blog

In The core trouble of feedback, I presented a WYRIWYG questionnaire.

When I used the acronym WYRIWYG for What You Request Is What You Get, (closely following the acronym WYSIWYG) I had no idea that it’s already being used at least by John Howe, see his web site wyriwyg.com where it stands for What You Read Is What You Get. His WYRIWYG even is self-referential and alas a little lying. Very well.

Patrik Tast uses WYRIWYG as an abbreviation for What You Receive Is What You Get to describe a piece of software. And, of course, there are other variations, too, such as WYAIWYG — What You Accept Is What You Get. Got it?

The portal of the St. Marx cemetery (Friedhof St. Marx) shows a hexagram, well known as Star of David. Yet, I was told that this hexagram was (and still is) not meant as a Jewish symbol.

Interestingly, a number of gravestones there show six-pointed stars which some consider variations of hexagrams. Though, I found one engraving showing a six-pointed star within a hexagram.

What is part of a symbol?

One of Heinz von Foerster’s favorite symbols was the Ouroboros. (Von Foerster often used a variation where 2 snakes devour each other’s tail.)

At the St. Marx cemetery some gravestones carry Ouroboros, many with an arrow pointing from left to right.

Are symbols just symbols?

I vividly feel as if I was an Ouroboros on fire.

[Ratta & I always tell the truth. So, what do you want me to say?]

My list of some dichotomies is missing the delicate discretion of women versus men, though it is always good enough for some humor; one that can be found elsewhere but I AM … NOT‘s place is so much more exciting since I AM … NOT refuses to hate me; probably because he believes rattus to be male though she is not. Anyway, I AM … NOT, listen up! You could at least lie to me.

A little list of lies, um, I mean, dichotomies. Just some that I had to deal with recently:

ache – comfort | analog – digital | analysis – synthesis | animal – human | art – kitsch | ask – reply | at least – at most | avoidance – devotion | BDSM – vanilla sex | beautiful – ugly | because – why | being – inexistence | black – white | blind – sighted | box – content – cover | cheap – expensive | coffee – tea | cold – warm | colored – plain | construction – destruction | continuous – discrete | crazy, mad – sane | criticism – praise | cut – glue | dark – light | dated – recent | day – night | denial – agreement | dichotomy – warrant | dynamic – static | early – late | East – West | ecology – economy | element – system – environment | expert – layperson | far – close | fast – slow | find – lose | finite – infinite | foreigner – native | freedom – slavery | friend – fiend | front – back | full – empty | funny – sober | global – local | god – human being | good – bad | green – red – blue – black | guilty – innocent | handicapped – unhindered – healthy | handmade – manufactured | happy – sad | healthy – sick | heaven – earth | heavy – light | help – damage | homosexual – straight | honest – deceiving | independent – tributary | interesting – boring | justified – random | knowledge – ignorance | left – right | liar – liar | life – death | light – shadow | linear – non-linear | list – pile | long – short | loud – silent | love – hate | maybe – sure | mind – body | modification – conservation | natural – artificial | nature – nurture | negation – affirmation | nonsense – sense | once – twice | one – many | one way – anyway | open – closed | opponent – supporter | order – chaos | part – whole | past – presence – future | political – apolitical | polyamory – monogamy | popular – elitist | positive – negative | preserver – dominator | prose – poetry | question – answer | reason – aim | relative – absolute | religious – unbelieving – atheistic | responsible – irresponsible | revolution – evolution | rich – poor | right – wrong | riddle – advice | science – public | serious music – popular music | sexual intercourse – petting | silence – noise | simple – complex | small – big | smoker – nonsmoker | some – all – none | stagnation – variation | strong – weak | subject – object | sustainable – wasteful | synonym – antonym | talking – mute | thick – thin | time – space | top – bottom | torturer – victim | town – country | truth – lie | unemployed – employee | up – down | warrant – ruination | word – picture | yes – no | young – old | zero – one | 6/8 – 4/4

If you look closely you may find at least twice as many, maybe more. Anyway, if you ask me (but don’t you): Avoid dichotomies for they are lies.

Craftsmen use tools. Tools such as knives, pincers, forceps, scissors, and levers and hammers, of course. Liars are using tools, too. One of them are dichotomies. Just as there are many forms of knives there are many forms of dichotomies. Luckily, for us liars.
So, this is my revelation. I present you my secret list of liars’ tools:

Synonyms for dichotomy

bisection, criticism, cutting in two, decision, dichotomization, discernment, discrimination, discussion, distinction (to distinguish), division, intersection, sectioning, secretion, separation

So much for synonyms from an etymological point of view. Here is a list of synonyms from a modern day point of view:

analysis, bifurcation, branching, being twofold, categorization, classification, compartmentalization, consciousness, definition, departure, detachment, determination, deviation, difference, discipline, dislikeness, disparity, dispute, dissimilarity, divergence, diversion, divorce, duality, forking, grouping, inequality, isolation, particularization, parting, partitioning, polarization, science, seclusion, segregation, taxonomy, termination, unlikeness, unsimilarity

Enough for more than a liar. Yet, there are also some closely following, related terms:

arrangement, assortment, contradiction, disagreement, discrepancy, hierarchy, order, set, sorting, …

Antonyms for dichotomy

alliance, bind, combination, connection, glue, hedging, joint, likeness, saving, similarity, synthesis, system, unification, whole

Note how most of these “antonyms” can only react to a dichotomy, and others are missing accompanying words that describe an action, such as wholing, wholement or wholination. In some way, they are antonyms, but they were not if it wasn’t for dichotomization. There are no antonyms for dichotomy itself, as there cannot be any antonym for something that contradicts itself.

Watch out for dichotomies. Dichotomies are lies.

But don’t forget: Language is deceiving.
By the way, deception is a form of dichotomization.

Here is a little reward for still being with me: Etymologically seen, I know of two families of words that magically try to overcome the paradox of dichotomy: Words derived from the stem war(a)– of which only a few are left; awareness, warrant, and the German wahren (to conserve, to care) being the most well-known. The other family gathers around the stem fri– which meant “(your) own, (be)loved, proper” (sometimes written as “pri-“). I know of three words which are derived from it: free, friend, and German Frieden (peace).