Seek Nuance In the Absolute

Experience the world in full color.

“The moon puts on an elegant show, different every time in shape, colour and nuance.” — Arthur Smith

Do absolute truths exist? Or does perspective demolish every absolute?

The world is painted with an infinite spectrum of color, including countless shades of gray. Yet we persist in reducing each thing to black and white. All the while, life is balanced on a fine point with chaos an endless ocean beneath it.

Complexity is a riot, suffocating in its variations and permutations.

We seek to reduce, to explain. Decisions are easier this way. Complexity is to be avoided. Everything must be neatly sorted in its place according to our perspective.

The mistake we make is largely a result of our own emotions and cognitive biases, highly complex in their own right. Nothing in this life is as simple as we make it out to be, especially other people and their motives.

Are people not a reflection of life itself?

People are complex. Focus them to an extreme of black or white and they become less... things easily cast aside with little thought or remorse.

There is a time for absolutes, but I fear absolutes have become our way of life.

The world is full of nuance. It is where true beauty lies. It is the breeding ground of ideas and engagement... the fountainhead of variety and possibility. Nuance is the medium of empathy, understanding and acceptance.

Absolutes are nice for ideals, but we all fall short of them. Seek nuance behind the curtain of absolutes. Appreciate it in art, relationships and life. Experience the world in full color.