On the deficit of binary logic. A metabletic exploration of science, economy and politics

Abstract

Billions of people have grown up with clear notions of right and wrong, fair and simple, and yet the world is divided into irreconcilable camps, more than it ever was. What is the nature of this polarizing mechanism? In the present paper, we leave the essential dichotomization as expressed in the binary number system, as well as its transformation in computing theory, and dwell on the historic backgrounds and analogies of the notion of polarization in science, economy and the world of finance. The theory of ‘metabletics’ of J. H. van den Berg (1914-2012) was found helpful as a metaheuristic approach for reading divergent lines in historical sources. For, historiography in itself appears a much contaminated or fertile ground for ideological polarization. Ideological influencing of the masses is much older than the Internet, but may have reached an unprecedented degree to date, also thanks to the algorithmic construction of social networks. The rationale of this paper follows the illuminating torch of cracks into the world’s all-encompassing constructions, its economy, politics and make-believe-systems. A special moment is also reserved for the role of Fine Arts in this enlightening experience, seen from a philosophical-rather-than-aesthetical viewpoint.