dichotomy – a division into two mutually exclusive or contradictory groups or entities.
Two things can be true at the same time. 
In order to create harmony within our societies we need to first create harmony within ourselves. This is not the airy-fairy concept that it might appear at first. It’s a practical proposition just as avoiding using only one leg might be a practical proposition.
How many internal and external struggles have existed because we try to style ourselves as entirely one thing or another?
On the one hand we might see ourselves as totally rational beings, devoid of a ‘higher nature’ and motivated only by narrow self-interest – homo economicus, as this materialistic view of ourselves has been called.
On the other, humanity has a long history of people who disappear into their non-material side to the extent that they deny – or at least don’t entertain – their physical/material selves.
From Descartes to Dawkins, it’s been one dichotomy after another. Maybe it’s time we dropped the dichotomies, recognising them as the unhelpful and fragmenting conceptual constructs that they are and instead tried to see even ourselves as coherent, united systems of diversity?
Related articles
- http://octoberrevue.org/2011/09/28/dualitydichotomy-2/
- “It’s (Not) Complicated” – MindofTwo.com is the “Anti-Facebook” for Anonymous Sharing (prweb.com)
Who I am is who I want to be . . . contradictions and all. 😆
Exactly Nancy – the best, and even the most useful, thing we can be is ourselves. Warts, mistakes, wonderfulness and all!
This dichotomy started way before Descartes was born…at the dawning of (self-)consciousness ;), or, as the Old Testament refers to it, when Eva took the first bite of the fruit of the tree of knowledge 😉
Living with contradictions becomes much easier as soon as we can accept this polarity as duality, as two aspects of the same.
Maria
I like that phrase – ‘polarity as duality’ – beautifully succinct – thanks Maria!