With the Benefit of Hindsight [Lady's Library, Morning 0]

[Akh Uur Hoon]

"You yourself said that berk nature is rather contradictory. Is there anything that can actually change that, even among writers with novel ideas, or mathematicians postulating axioms?"

[Dare Shah]

"Sentience might imply contradiction indeed. Even berks artificial in nature and designed to be creatures of pure logic nonetheless irrevocably fall in seemingly contradictory patterns given time.

Though maybe that's the definition of contradiction that's at fault here. Some things that might appear contradictory at first glance might prove to be coherent eventually. Energy is mass, particles are waves, the knight is both stronger and weaker than the bishop, et cetera."

[Akh Uur Hoon]

"...Life and death. Isn't the notion called complementarity? Perhaps we keep confusing ourselves by making up oppositions."

[Dare Shah]

"This is a word of many meanings, and likely the right one for this phenomenon.

That one cannot exist without the other however does not presuppose the ideal balance of the two is half and half, at least not at the scope of a given individual. Someone who's perfectly neutral in every way, half order half chaos, half reason half madness, and so on, feels more like an experience of though than an individual that could actually exist in the world."

[Akh Uur Hoon]

"Isn't 'half' an ideal concept most of the time anyway? Isn't it a convenient mental shortcut to cover ignorance? 'She's a 62.74%-elf!' is not something you hear on the streets."

[Dare Shah]

"Oh, that half thing is such an absurdity from any logical point of view it gives me a willingness to break property and use swear words.

The child of a readhead and a brunette is not a half readhead or a half-brunette. They're one, the other, or even a different shade altogether. That myriad of possibilities, of nuances, is the beauty of life.

I agree these are backwards conceptions, and I'm baffled they are still as common in this day and age. Likely because they are politically convenient?"

[Akh Uur Hoon]

"Likely because. Without them, a lot of berks would be clueless as to how to explain their urge to feel superior."

[Dare Shah]

"If only it was only berks...

There are otherwise admirable people who are nonetheless into that coprophagia. Yet another example that perfection is not of this reality I guess..."

[Akh Uur Hoon]

The woman with a certain phagia many could find equally repulsive would take a breath if breathing was something she still did.

"Non-binary values are just more difficult. Perhaps one must pick one's poison in having complex thoughts on some issues while cutting corners in grasping others."

[Dare Shah]

"Interesting perspective. What would you say are your own biases for example? Or is it the whole core of the problem that one is unable to notice the subjects one's brain has decided to oversimplify so it can concentrate on others?"