Humans like to categorize and think in categories, but in all actuality, the universe happens in a continuum. Our obsession with categorizing makes us miss the reality and focus on black and white while the world is largely gray.
Let’s start with an easy one. The USA is currently dealing with a hurricane. Hurricanes have categories, right? Below is what those categories mean, acquired from the National Hurricane Center, https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshws.php
When you criticize categorization, people always say that categories make us understand things easily. But do they? Or all they do is cause misunderstandings.
People get shocked, panicked, or worried when a hurricane changes categories. But what is the perceived difference between a 128 mph hurricane and a 131 mph one? Nothing. What about a 112 mph hurricane vs 128 mph? Even though they are within the same category, the difference between those two will be felt more severely. Thinking of them within categories just confuses us.
Let’s look at how color works next. We think that there are seven colors, and when you mix them together, it makes white, right? In actuality, light happens — surprise surprise — in a continuum. Humans can see around 300 nanometers of this spectrum, and our brains perceive the changes in wavelengths as changes in hue. I got the spectrum color chart from https://www.thoughtco.com/the-visible-light-spectrum-2699036 and you can read more about the wavelength color relationship there.
Our eyes have two different kinds of receptors and one kind of receptors, cones gathers the data about the wavelength and the other, rods about the value, or brightness. Our brains mix and match this data and give us a perception of color. And like any person who has ever used Photoshop and played with the color box can attest, there are more than seven colors. Also a secret, our eyes can see a wider variety of colors than the color box of Photoshop shows.
What harm is there in limiting the colors to a couple? Research shows that focusing on a couple of colors instead of understanding that color happens in a continuum narrows our visual perception and makes us actually see fewer colors than there are. I believe this is one reason why there is racism based on skin color. If you approach the subject, there is no black or white skin. Everybody’s skin is a mixture of yellow, red, and green. Moreover, the skin tone changes within the person. For example, the tip of your nose will be reddish while the skin over your mouth will be yellowish, or greenish depending on your gender.
Accepting that binaries are human constructs of laziness will allow you to understand how things actually work. Next time you see a category, just think if that category really has to exist or can you increase your understanding by thinking in a continuum.