The Ambiguity of Opposition

It is rare to find a use of language, a phrase or articulation, which has not already been released and lost in the echo chamber of text on the web.

When this phrase — the ambiguity of opposition — dawned on me, literally in the shower (eureka?), it gave a name to something i had first understood through a diagram i sketched on a post-it pad, nearly ten years ago. And it seems indeed not to have been discussed before, at least not in these terms. (Note: i assume there are terms and axioms of geometrical logic applicable here, but my ignorance of them has necessitated this probable re-invention / rearticulation.)

My phrase aims to indicate the importance of distinguishing between the best (aka: strongest) argument against an idea, and an argument that is simply its (direct) opposite. It is a gesture towards more thoroughly / rigorously critical engagement with the complexities of particular problems, ideas and arguments.

Here is the diagram:

The question it asks is: Which arrow “opposes” the red arrow? The answer of course is they all do; determining which opposition is most useful will depend on both one’s frame of reference and one’s purpose.

In this highly abstracted form, it may seem perfectly insignificant; but its conceptual inevitability underlines its importance. In any process of decision-making in which a change is desired, and especially in developing a political strategy, whenever we are considering which direction is best, we have more, often better options than a mere about-face.

I'll leave unstated (for now) my judgment of the implications for anarchist activism; no big news there. However i will add, since i think it's generally worth noting, that over time — as with sailing — several tacks may be required to reach a desirable destination.

The point is simple enough: to generate good ideas we have to work harder than simply inverting bad (or flawed) ones. Such “opposition” merely reproduces the original idea’s defects, in a mirrored fashion. The problem of the pendulum swing, so to speak. It’s a familiar problem, and i’m not presenting anything new as a solution; but i may have achieved some useful novelty by re-casting the issue in (abstractly) clear terms and representing it visually.

I’m writing a more detailed explanation of the implications of this ambiguity, in (what passes for) academic language (i may find a place for it in my thesis), but i think the diagram largely speaks for itself; once the intention is made explicit, the meaning is apparent.

We need better ideas, not merely opposite ones.

Ultimately, awareness of this “ambiguity of opposition” may also be useful for illustrating when the impulse to compromise will yield no improvement. But first we have to recognize our position.

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It’s going to be a busy week. I have some half-baked thoughts (about food and shopping, among other things) that are almost ready. I’ll be sharing them here very soon.