Suggested slogans: Embrace the spectrum! It's complicated!
We are polarized more than ever. Right?!?!? Blue or red. Pro or con. With us or against us. In-tribe or out-tribe.
Oh, I'm sorry. Are you above all that? Do you have the core tenets of rationalism tattooed on your chest?
I doubt it. Because even those of us who recognize that the world is complex and full of nuance are still forced (or simply fall) into polar tropes. Our day-to-day life is too often defined by polarities - definitions that we use to navigate minute-to-minute. Our communication defaults are similarly polar, full of “yes or no”s and “like or dislike”s.
Well, it's time for an anti-polar revolution!!!
In the name of sense-making and of disrupting our dichromatic status quo, I put forward the spectrum as the solution. The spectrum can provide the multitude of shades and increments necessary to accentuate the complexity of our values and preferences.
While a fully articulated equivalent of RGB and CMYK spectrums might be too much to ask for, I suggest that we start with the good old 10 scale.
How would it work?
First, we ban polarspeak.
Chant with me: NO MORE LIKES! NO MORE LIKES! NO MORE LIKES!
Instead, we would refer to all things in terms of the 10-scale spectrum.
“I’m 7 abortion rights, 3 gun rights, 1 Trump and 2 Biden.”
Or, perhaps the notations should be:
“I’m Pearl Jam 5, Coltrane 8, Dave Chappelle 6, and SNL 4.”
There may be some disagreement on how to treat antonymic situations. For example, would a staunch anti-abortion individual be “abortion 1” or “anti-reproductive rights 10”? If the former, would we be effectively ridding the language of all negation? And of all preference terminology?
Instead of saying “I don’t like holodets”, would I say “I like holodets 1”, or simply “I holodets 1”? Perhaps in cases of extreme old school emphasis, I might say, “I don’t like holodets 10.”
Furthermore, we should probably add 0 to the scale. This way we have the 5 providing perfect neutrality.
Here's a model website for our new movement.
So join the Anti-Polar party! Or don't join. Or maybe something in between.