Two Sides to Every Coin

When I was in school, I used to love debate. I was a member of debating club. We would be given a topic and each side of the team could choose to either propose or oppose it. The prowess of a debater would be proved by how well he convinced the judges irrespective of the topic. In some instances, we would be swapped so that the opposers became the proposers and vice versa. Amazingly, the top debaters were always convincing irrespective of whether they were opposing or proposing a particular topic.

Although what we debated in school was purely hypothetical, in a way it prepared us for the real world. I have consequently come to learn that most situations in life provide us with two options. Some examples of binary choices include good against evil, old against new, left against right, top against bottom, and now against later.

Lawyers Vs Judges

There is only one course of study in law. On graduation however, one is either admitted to the bar or the bench. These two groups will spend their lives trying to outdo each other using the same law. It is this eternal conflict that makes me find law sagas in books and movies to be so interesting.

Police Vs Criminals

Criminals are always on the lookout for opportunities to break the law. Police on the other hand, are forever devising ways of effectively enforcing the law. They will go to school and study criminology and the ways of combat. They will learn how to use firearms effectively and condition their bodies to withstand extreme conditions. This will ultimately help them to either stop criminals from carrying out their acts, or accost them when they do.

Criminals will go to the black market and buy guns. They will then get somebody to teach them how to use these guns. If they can’t get somebody knowledgeable enough to train them (possibly a rogue policeman), they will teach themselves in makeshift shooting ranges in some forest and test their skill on an unlucky or uncooperative victim.

Government vs. Opposition

The presence of a government and an opposition is considered the hallmark of a democracy. The government does what it promised to do while the opposition questions it when it fails. These two sides provide us with enough noise to last us the whole period between subsequent elections. They also occasionally provide us with some comedy breaks.

Men vs. Women

Most men are on the lookout for the ideal woman either to marry, date, or just hit on. Being a man, I may not know exactly what women are looking for. I am however relatively reliably informed that a lot of them are looking for suitable men to date and marry, or otherwise be in a long-term relationship with. Apart from homosexual attractions, men generally seek women and vice versa.

A World of Choice

As can be seen from my examples, life often provides one with choices between two things. In most cases however, either choice does not portend any immediately obvious adverse effect on eventual outcome. This then means that the main effects of the choices we make are more on our frame of mind at the time we make them and not so much on their consequences. This applies in most everyday choices we make. The exception to this generalisation is when one is involved in a life or death scenario such as would occur in the average brain surgeon’s diary.