https://xkcd.com/2898

Alt text:

“Some people say light is waves, and some say it’s particles, so I bet light is some in-between thing that’s both wave and particle depending on how you look at it. Am I right?” “YES, BUT YOU SHOULDN’T BE!”

  • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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    8 months ago

    As a middle ground kind of guy, I would like to pre-emptively state that a lot of us don’t actually think the answer is always the middle ground between two stances. It’s just that we’re more likely to propose a middle ground solution because we evaluate the plausibility of both stances in a more balanced way (as opposed to existing-stance-holders who are prone to bias towards their own stance.) When the two seem roughly equal in plausibility (which happens fairly often, otherwise the argument would be more one-sided,) that’s an indication to evaluate the middle ground as well.

    Middle ground folks are often caricaturized as wanting to find the middle ground between an objectively sensible point A and a radically wrong point B, when the spectrum of opinions is sort of like [ - - - - - A - | - - - - - - B ]. In that caricature, we’re looking for a middle ground at point C [ - - - - - A - | - - C - - - B ], when in actuality we’re evaluating (and not automatically accepting) something two or three steps closer to A. In some such cases, A might already be the most sensible middle ground.

      • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        I’m actually not as neutral as I may seem. There are quite a few cases where I hold more extreme opinions, but as a general trend, I average somewhere around the middle.

    • kbal@fedia.io
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      8 months ago

      In an n-dimensional problem space, the probability of the truth lying anywhere on a line between point A and point B is infinitessimally small.

      • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        This is also true. I like to evaluate solutions outside the presented dichotomy in general, and that often means outside the line between them, but I didn’t want to complicate my initial explanation that much.

    • Ookami38@sh.itjust.works
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      8 months ago

      Wow. You just succinctly explained the position I’ve held most of my life. Very well done!

    • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Ok, but let’s realize that you’re not necessarily the one who’s defining the spectrum of options; or put another way, there’s not an objective spectrum of options.

      For instance, in the case of Israel and Gaza, you could define the leftmost bracket as “give Israel to the Palestinians” or “the second-state solution” or just “a cease-fire,” and likewise the rightmost bracket could be “let Israel keep the war going but let civilians out through Egypt” through “Israeli settlement of Gaza” all the way up to “glass Gaza.” Depending on who’s talking, and how extreme each person is in the discussion, the most humane solution might not be in the middle at all.

      • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        I’m not seeing a conflict here. The point I’m making is that the middle ground is not necessarily in the middle of any two given opinions, because the spectrum is wider than that. And also that the middle is not necessarily the best, just worth evaluating.

        • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          It’s not a conflict. What I’m trying to say is that what people hear when you say you want to “evaluate the middle option” is entirely dependent upon the options presented in the argument, which is why the caricature is so common.

    • CazzoBuco@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Middle implies middle. If you are leaning towards a side, then you’re side-leaning. You can’t have your cake and eat it too, centrist, that’s what everyone makes fun of ya’ll for.

      • AeonFelis@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        It’s “somewhere in the middle”. You are putting to much emphasis on “middle” and not enough of “somewhere”.

      • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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        8 months ago

        a lot of us don’t actually think the answer is always the middle ground between two stances.

      • Jarix@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        If i have a very plain boring hamburger. Bun cheese patty bun, are the cheese and patty in the middle? Middle doesnt always mean center, center doesnt always mean exactly in the center between 2 points either because thats why the term dead center exists

      • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        It’s hilarious he had to make us a little drawing making up his own scale that fits this narrative.

        • Sotuanduso@lemm.ee
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          8 months ago

          It’s an abstraction of a caricature I’ve seen. Point A was civil rights, point B was the KKK, and the middle ground guy was like “what if we only kill half of Black people?”