For a comparison to make sense — it has to be meaningful

Otherwise it’s meaningless, obviously

When it’s meaningless — it’s rather useless, or at very least misleading

 

What is better?

Cats or washing machines?

Green or furry?

Rich vs sunny?

Having tail or having little debt?

 

Like is this meaningful?

Obviously it’s not

It’s a waste of time

 

Even THOSE weird comparisons could be made meaningful, however,

We could define terms in which it would be a realistic choice

E.g. would you rather have your favourite cat — or a washing machine?

Would you rather never see green again, or never meet a furry creature again?

Etc.

But even then it’s actually meaningless. It doesn’t pertain to real world dichotomies

 

Now that’s your most of your comparisons, actually

You compare two different things — as though they belong to the same category

Or as though the category they do in fact share — is the category that interests you

 

Consider comparing people

Who’s a better person? A talented singer or your boss?

Answer is — NEITHER

They are both human = yes they share a category

But the attributes you’re comparing have no bearing on the conclusion you’re trying to reach

WHAT THEY DO, in this case, doesn’t inform their moral character

 

And this is also not to say that all your comparisons are meaningless unless you put them through some rigorous process of defining categories and objects and attributes

That’s not how real life works either

You WILL make comparisons all the time

Choosing between things all the time

That’s just the mechanics of life

 

The only “epiphany” is that most of your comparisons have very limited meaning,

Many are completely meaningless, just nonsense

And some are actually solid: e.g. comparing attributes of different TVs, before deciding which one to buy

The epiphany, the lesson — is to be able to notice when you’re taking a weak comparison too seriously

When you’re making POOR, POORLY-DEFINED COMPARISONS — and thinking this is some serious discrimination, judgement

 

Again: any two things can be placed in the same category,

But to make a comparison — that category must be pertinent to that comparison

E.g. if the point of comparison is selection of the best TV — both objects must belong to the category of TVs — must indeed be TVs

Or if point of comparison is who you choose to work with — both people must belong to the category of your potential partner — and the attributes you’re comparing must be pertinent to that category

 

You must KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR

And know what is IRRELEVANT

If you get distracted by attributes that are otherwise interesting — but outside the scope of the comparison — you have already ruined the comparison, made it meaningless

Or if your categories keep shifting — then again you have ruined it

 

Once you thought a bit deeper about those different categories and attributes,

you’ll see many of your instinctual comparisons and judgements were actually unfair, meaningless, foolish

You were comparing apples and oranges

 

This will both make you more appreciative and understanding of certain options, categories, choices, objects, people

And more stringent with others, which when categorised properly — become far less attractive