I’m currently reading The Parasitic Mind, by Gad Saad. He takes a moment (on page 24) to discuss dichotomies. Here’s the passage:

The pursuit of knowledge does not always neatly fit into clean dichotomies. The penchant of many researchers to map phenomena onto binary realities is what I’ve coined epistemological dichotomania. It stems from a desire to create a workable and simplified view of the world that is amenable to scientific testing. Of note, the dichotomies are at times largely false such as the nature-nurture debate. In the words of the biologist Matt Ridley, “Nature versus nurture is dead.” Much of who we are arises from an indissoluble amalgam of our genes and our environments. Furthermore, universal patterns of socialization (nurture) exist in their forms because of biological imperatives (nature). The desire to divide the world into binary forms is at the root of the thinking versus feeling dichotomy, and this creates a false either-or mindset. We are both thinking and feeling animals. The challenge is to know when to activate the cognitive (thinking) versus the affective (feeling) systems.