Why Is Reason the True Opposite of Fear?
Fear is frequently weaponized to be unreasonable.
All opposites, like positivity and negativity, black and white, good and evil, are extremes. They’re not, as most would suggest, opposite sides of a coin. That’s because the space between them isn’t so thin as the edge of a coin, but far broader, making it more akin to a cylinder.
To clarify. Let’s take black and white. On one side of the cylinder, there’s black. The other side of the cylinder is white. Between them is every color and shade of grey you can imagine (literally and metaphorically). Particularly in the non-literal sense, you probably exist and experience life somewhere between these extremes.
There is one more complication to this. The cylinder between given extremes isn’t solid, It’s flexible. That’s due to the nature of the extremes coupled with human free will and the inevitability of change. Hence, extremes like good and bad can shift over time, with added knowledge, or due to other factors. That’s how yesterday’s villain is today’s hero and vice versa.
Recognizing this is important because you and I live in a fear-based society. From the semi-harmless, like certain forms of advertising, to blatant falsehood and lies, like large swaths of politics and religion; fear is everywhere you turn.
