How to Spiral into a Cycle of Nothing

Cycle of Nothing is an experimental blog featuring serious topics and quirky commentary.

To understand its purpose, you have to understand binary.

What I imagine you doing right now.

Binary is a word that originated as a mathematical term denoting a base-2 number system (0 and 1). Computers and electronics use binary as part of their coding: 1 is on, 0 is off. In today’s time, searching for “Binary” will get you a mix of mathematics and a debate about gender identity. Male and female is the “gender binary”, and there are a growing number of people who break the binary by identifying as genderfluid, genderqueer, androgynous, crossdressers, transgender, etc.

This is about neither mathematics nor gender.

Binary is a mindset: if it is not A, then it is B (or vice versa). When we think of anything besides A or B, we use ratios of A to B (or B to A). This may sound mathematical, but it is a convenient way to avoid ambiguity:
“If it is not Yes, then it is No.”
“If it is not up, then it is down.”
“If it is not right, then it is left.”

Mind is blown

The functionality of the binary is necessary. We need it to be able to distinguish extremes, and oftentimes the extreme are the most interesting to look at. No one wants to be the average.

Average can go fuck itself.

The best of something is coveted, and the worst of something is mocked. The problem with binary is when you enter an “All or Nothing” mentality. This goes back to the On/Off for electronics:
“You are either with me or against me.”
“You are either a saint or a sinner.”
“You are either right or wrong.” (I’ll come back to this one later)

The issue is, as most extremes go, the majority of the population is somewhere in between. Let me use a simple, unbiased example of what I mean.

There is Black and White, the extremes. You can easily distinguish one from the other.

Or

For the trolls.

Oftentimes, when people think Grey, they think of the middle, or the average.
Thus, anything that is neither Black nor White is Grey. The error of this logic is this is a binary in itself: “If it is not Black or White, then it is Grey.”

What is the Grey area?
This is a question older than time. It is like trying to find the fine line between genius and insanity. Grey is the equivalent of ambiguity, and following that nature, defining Grey is difficult.

There is no One Grey. It is a spectrum, meaning there are Greys that are lighter or darker than the average.

You may think this is a “Duh” moment until you realize that Black and White make up less than 1% of that spectrum. The extremes are at the edges. A better way to imagine this is to picture yourself at the North Pole with a compass. By standing exactly on the Pole, everywhere you turn is South. The moment you take a step off the Pole, even if by an inch, your compass will read North again. The same applies to the spectrum. Even a slight deviation from Black or White puts you in the Greys. This is why people have arguments.

...and then there is no sex for a month.

As I said before, Black and White make up less than 1% of the spectrum. That is true in theory. But have you ever heard of the saying “The loud minority”? Well, here is a representation of it.

And to help you see it:

The Black and White “squeezed” the Greys into a smaller percentage. A strange outcome occurs, one that the visual helps with: there appears to be more Black than White. That, however, is incorrect because the spectrum has been reduced in width without any alterations. This phenomenon causes more of the Greys to “lean” towards Black, and even the Greys near White seem to side with Black. Thus more people assume Grey is defined by an affiliation to Black and creates a new binary: “If it is not White, then it is Grey or Black.”

Now let’s go back to: “You are either right or wrong.”

What about: “If you are not right or wrong, then you are stupid.”
This argument is used when people are looking for facts. Facts are either correct or incorrect, but if someone does anything using a mix of correct and incorrect facts, he/she is called stupid.

I have a toaster. Your helmet is invalid.

What about: “If you are not right, then you are stupid or wrong.”
This is how derogatory language forms. If a person does not succeed at being right (or skinny, beautiful, intelligent, powerful, holy, etc), then the person is either a failure or imperfect. This is a downward spiral into low self-esteem and self-harm. The perception of perfection is what drives us crazy, and we can never reach it.

We are made to believe it is possible to be pure "White" because the model is of a loud minority. The truth is that "White" is less than 0.5% and that any tiny deviation automatically negates the purity of it. You cannot be yourself if you try to be perfect because otherwise you feel like you’re wrong or stupid.

It is like saying:
“My sexual orientation is Heterosexual.” Even if you joke about being Homosexual?
“I am a moral person.” Even if you think unethical thoughts without acting on them?
“My art is horrible.” Even if two of your friends would kill for your talent?

I hate you too <3

The binary is good for reference, but it is no good for living life.
Learn to live outside of the binary and you’ll be one step ahead of the machines.

Therefore...
Cycle of Nothing advocates intelligent opinions over biased facts.