Heroes Not Zombies

Should I ask you to choose? The flower or the bamboo, which do you prefer?

I don’t think that would be such a good idea.

There is a lot of binary thought around. People choosing this or that. People divided into two camps, us and them.

It’s not healthy and it’s a distortion of reality. Reality is more “and not or” than it’s binary.

I was thinking about this the other day when I came across a discussion about whether or not it’s human nature to be competitive or cooperative. A pretty futile debate I reckon, like most binary debates, because it’s human nature to be BOTH competitive AND cooperative.

I’d argue the same about “nature Vs nurture”. We all have a genetic inheritance and we all change constantly under the influence of culture and society.

I’m extremely wary of simplistic, narrow, views. Maybe it’s not as dramatic or as easy to argue for something more complex, more nuanced, more integrated, but that’s how I see reality all the same.

We have two cerebral hemispheres, each with it’s unique way of engaging with the world, and we thrive when we use both at the same time.

We are open, massively interconnected creatures, constantly growing, changing, adapting. We are not “this or that”. We are both “us AND them”.