Battle is Our Bond
One-Sided Distribution in "Plane" Sight
Sophia: Gentlemen, we’ve gathered to contemplate the limits of a narrow perspective. Imagine a geometric plane—it only offers a flat, two-dimensional slice of existence. How does focusing on only one side of that 'plane' distort our understanding of reality and equity?
Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
— Plato (c. 424 BC to c. 348 BC)
Plato: I believe the greatest distortion lies in a lack of empathy. If you view a person simply as an obstacle or an equal on the same flat surface, you miss the hidden dimensions of their struggle. You don't see the silent, internal burden they are carrying, which is often far heavier than whatever struggle you perceive on the surface. Kindness, then, isn't a mere pleasantry; it’s an acknowledgement of that unseen, three-dimensional depth of human experience.
The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.
— Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
Jean-Jacques: Indeed, that unseen dimension is where true possibility resides. If we are tethered solely to the known, rigid contours of our shared material world—that 'plane' of fixed facts—we accept its boundaries as absolute. But the mind, when unshackled, can explore a boundless territory that transcends those limits. To assume a one-sided, fixed reality is to surrender the very engine of human potential and reform.
John Stuart: A single perspective, no matter how firmly held, is insufficient for wisdom. If you only argue from the vantage point of your own interests or assumptions, you barely understand the foundation of your own argument. True command of a subject, or a situation, demands a deliberate journey to the opposite side of the 'plane,' to fully grasp the validity and weight of counter-arguments. Without that breadth, your own conclusion is, by definition, incomplete.
He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that.
— John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
György: The danger is that society itself can engineer this single, dominating perspective. The way we organize work and wealth under capitalism creates 'necessary illusions.' These distorted views become so interwoven with our daily lives—they feel so solid—that we forget they are merely social constructs, a shared mirage. To gain a complete, multi-sided view, one must look beyond these surface-level, 'fetishized' economic forms and understand that our perceived reality is a continually evolving social process. Only then can we dissolve the illusion.
Only the dialectical conception of ... reality as a social process ... dissolves the fetishistic forms necessarily produced by the capitalist mode of production and enables us to see them as mere illusions which are not less illusory for being seen to be necessary.
— György Lukács (1885-1971)
Steve: And when we try to create something new—to disrupt that flat, accepted 'plane'—we inevitably make a mess of it sometimes. The error isn't in the mistake itself; that's just a byproduct of pushing boundaries. The true failure is a stubborn refusal to see it for what it is. The quickest path to true progress isn't defending the mistake, but rather immediately acknowledging the flawed perspective that led to it, correcting your course, and reinvesting that energy into better ways forward.
Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.
— Steve Jobs (1955-2011)
Sophia: So, the consensus is clear: a one-sided view—whether born of self-interest, rigid societal structures, or simply a lack of imagination—is a barrier to both wisdom and justice. To transcend that 'plane,' we must integrate empathy for the unseen burdens, imagination for the possible, intellectual honesty to study opposing views, critical awareness of social illusions, and the courage to admit error. Wisdom, after all, is the art of seeing reality in its full, complex, multi-dimensional truth.
Do you believe any one of these five dimensions—empathy, imagination, honesty, awareness, or courage—is the most crucial starting point for changing a one-sided view?
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Heraclitus
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