What was most surprising about Star Trek: TNG was the Borg. Like most people, I was vaguely aware of the Borg. I had the basic understanding that most have about them through pop-culture osmosis. If you don't know, the Borg are a pseudo-species of cyborgs that assimilate technology and species into their collective hive mind. Their only purpose is perfection through absorption. In this way, they are the perfect foil for Starfleet. "The first duty of every Starfleet officer is to the truth. Whether it's scientific truth, or historical truth, or personal truth. It is the guiding principle upon which Starfleet is based." – Captain Jean-Luc Picard, 2368 ("The First Duty")
But what was so surprising while I was watching the show was how terrifying they are. Despite out-dated VFX and costumes, I found myself squirming in my seat whenever the crew was in close contact with the Borg. After thinking about it, I found out why they bother me so much. They represent something scarier than death. They represent a total loss of autonomy and individuality. This is not a new discovery. This is why they are scary to everyone. In TNG we see the effect that this has on Picard. He has PTSD from being assimilated by them even though he was only with the Borg collective for a short time.
Frighteningly, I see a corollary to the Borg in our culture: binary thinking. It's fitting. Just as computers run on binary code, 1s and 0s, this type of thinking forces a person to see the world in black and white. This is our modern-day Borg problem, and just as the Borg represented an existential threat to future earth, this type of thinking poses the same threat to our society.
Binary thinking is antithetical to critical thinking, and that is why it is so scary to me. So I'd like to lay out some problems with binary thinking as I see it.
Binary Thinking is Illogical
Binary thinking is illogical because it sets up false dichotomies and then suggests that a person choose between two options. Usually one of the options is so morally egregious that it forces a person to agree with "the one right answer." This is disingenuous. If there is only one "right choice," there isn't really a choice, and the binary itself is falsely constructed.
This is also deceptive because the one who is behind creating the options in the binary pretends that these binaries are spontaneous, natural, and obvious when in actuality they are manufactured and precisely worded to achieve a specific outcome: conformity.
This isn't how the world works. Everything around us exists in gray areas. Degrees of certainty. Ranges of nuance. A dazzling array of spectra. Insisting that our complex world can be whittled down to simple binaries is an affront to objective reality.
Binary Thinking Foments Conflict
This is done by forcing people to choose sides. It doesn't matter if the binary is falsely constructed, especially when moral binaries are involved. People usually feel so strongly that they immediately choose a side and demonize not just those on the opposite side, but those "in the middle."
As stated earlier, because of the nature of a binary, there can be no middle. 1 or 0. No in-between. The reasoning goes: If you claim to be in the middle, you are actually on the opposite side, and therefore my enemy. It's no wonder that people can't seem to discuss their differences nowadays. A false binary exists solely to stop disagreement. Once a false binary has been created, the discussion is over.
Binary thinking only alienates people. It slows down progress. It stops dialogue. It is intolerant of nuance. It is reductive and arrogant. It doesn't allow for exploration or new data or third-dimensional possibilities. It forces those with different opinions underground. It creates violent extremism. Stick with one side of the binary long enough without opposition and people will push their ideology to its limits.
Conclusion
Whenever you see someone express something like, "I can't imagine how someone would disagree," you can be pretty sure that a false dichotomy has been erected.
This is one of the reasons why the Borg scare me so much. From a Star Trek Fan Wiki: "Individual [Borg] drones have demonstrated puzzlement at other species' unwillingness to be assimilated, the drones believing in the superiority of their way of life."
I can see why this type of thinking is alluring. It's safe. It gives people common enemies. Something to fight against. It gives people purpose by anchoring to "sure knowledge." It's neat. In this complex world of ours, binary thinking is a safety blanket.
However, it seems many people have forgotten one of our oldest Socratic dialectics:
"True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing."
