Rant - Absolutes

From where comes the fixation humans have with absolutes? Sentences are ridden with inaccuracy caused by a compulsion to categorize to an absolute.

"She's a bitch."
"I don't exercise."
"Star Wars movies suck."
"Sentences are ridden with inaccuracy caused by a compulsion to categorize to an absolute."

All pure black or white. None of these sentences are accurate. Fine, people want facts, and absolutes seem to be the easiest way. Saying 'she can be a bitch sometimes' presents information that is far more accurate, yet can't be relied on and thus is tossed out. And both parties in conversation are happy to use an absolute, even if they know the line is bogus. If they stick with the 'sometimes' clause, the sentence can apply to anyone. Let he who has not sinned ...

So it becomes a scale issue. "Of all the movies I've seen, Star Wars is definitely in the bottom 5 percentile." What's so wrong with that statement? (well, aside from the fact that such geekly sentence structure usually comes from Star Wars types.) I think more people should try on lines closer to "I'm lucky if I get an hour of exercise a month," or "she can be a bitch at times."

Will such accuracy stand up to the drama of "She's a bitch"? Doubtful. It never works for me anyway. In casual conversation, truth is secondary to entertainment. That's one of the reasons I'm not a first class socialite.

TPC