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It is never personal, you're not the protagonist

It's so easy to become offended. It actually comes pretty natural. Someone says something.  You feel it's directed at you Strong reaction follows No need to react, it's got nothing to do with you as a person Imagine some remarks about academic work versus manual one, a bit dismissive about the latter. You don't have a degree and never wanted one. You know very well it takes years of experience and training to do what you're doing. Talent is involved too, as some people do have "two left hands".  You still feel you should add something to the conversation, but not sure if it is going to be well-received. No need to enlighten the other party right now Most people think in terms of opposites. If it's not this, it's that and it can't be anything else. Certainty of one's convictions is also a form of self-reassurance that everything is stable in one's world. Other points of view cannot be allowed because they are disruptive. Cognitive disrup...

Black and White

Lockdown reflections 1.2

It's not easy to spell the adjective "manichaean". The word that has ended up meaning "black and white thinking" has its origin 17 centuries ago.  At the time, it was not that simplistic.

I think it is definitely worth looking into Manichaeism, the religion founded in the 3rd century AD by a Persian prophet and the idea of a battle between light and darkness.

Modern use of "manichaean" is pretty much divorced from the ancient belief system. Rarely employed in writing, it has the undertone of a rebuke. These days, it is not exactly a compliment.

Could it be that we are so in love with nuances? There's always a "but..." dangling from the end tail of a sentence.

To be more precise, there used to be a "but", before all nuanced conversations went out of the window. Or were rather locked down.

Duality in its strictest, most dogmatic form is reigning supreme. It's an either/or situation,  no middle ground, no desire to be less fixated on one opinion or another.

All about a Virus that has become just as divisive as politics and football, two topics known to ignite passions even in the most jaded of souls.

At some point, social historians will pore over internet archives and draw all sorts of conclusions.
No good second-guessing what they may say.

Right now, it could be more useful to find out what the popular reaction was for example to some other horrible virus, before a vaccine was found or the virus went quiet.

One thing for sure: there is enough to find out,  this article  is just an example.

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