Zeno's dichotomy

Examples of Zeno's dichotomy in the following topics:

• Series

  • An example is the famous series from Zeno's dichotomy and its mathematical representation:

• The Sacred and the Profane

  • Emile Durkheim posited the sacred–profane dichotomy as central to all religion, but critics suggest this theory is too eurocentric.
  • The sacred–profane dichotomy is an idea posited by French sociologist Émile Durkheim, who considered it to be the central characteristic of religion: "religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden."
  • Durkheim explicitly stated that the sacred/profane dichotomy was not equivalent to good/evil.
  • Durkheim's claim of the universality of this dichotomy for all religions/cults has been criticized by scholars such as British anthropologist Jack Goody.

• Applications of Geometric Series

  • Zeno's Paradoxes are a set of philosophical problems devised by an ancient Greek philosopher to support the doctrine that the truth is contrary to one's senses.
  • Simply stated, one of Zeno's paradoxes says: There is a point, A, that wants to move to another point, B.
  • Zeno's mistake is in the assumption that the sum of an infinite number of finite steps cannot be finite.

• Theoderic the Great

  • In 488, Emperor Zeno ordered Theoderic to overthrow the German Foederatus Odoacer, who had likewise been made Patrician and even King of Italy, but who had since betrayed Zeno, supporting the rebellious Leontius.
  • Not long after Theoderic became king, he and Zeno worked out an arrangement beneficial to both sides.
  • The Ostrogoths needed a place to live, and Zeno was having serious problems with Odoacer, the King of Italy who had come to power in 476.
  • Ostensibly a viceroy for Zeno, Odoacer was menacing Byzantine territory and not respecting the rights of Roman citizens in Italy.
  • At Zeno's encouragement, Theoderic invaded Odoacer's kingdom.

• Odoacer and the Fall of Rome

  • Odoacer generally used the Roman honorific patrician, granted by the Emperor Zeno, but is referred to as a king (Latin rex) in many documents.
  • As Odoacer's position improved, Zeno, the Eastern Emperor, increasingly saw him as a rival.
  • When Illus, master of soldiers of the Eastern Empire, asked for Odoacer’s help in 484 in his struggle to depose Zeno, Odoacer invaded Zeno’s westernmost provinces.
  • Zeno responded first by inciting the Rugi of present-day Austria to attack Italy.
  • In his quest to destroy Odoacer, Zeno promised Theoderic the Great and his Ostrogoths the Italian peninsula if they were to defeat and remove Odoacer from power.

• Justinian and Theodora

  • When Leo died in 474, Zeno and Ariadne's younger son succeeded to the throne as Leo II, with Zeno as regent.
  • When Leo II died later that year, Zeno became emperor.
  • The end of the Western Empire is sometimes dated to 476, early in Zeno's reign, when the Germanic Roman general Odoacer deposed the titular Western Emperor Romulus Augustulus, but declined to replace him with another puppet.

• Discussion questions and references

  • Burnett, "The Macromarketing/Micro marketing Dichotomy: A Taxonomical Model," Journal of Marketing, Summer. 1982 pp. 11-26.

• Sexual Orientation

  • Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum, rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight.
  • Alfred Kinsey was among the first to conceptualize sexuality as a continuum, rather than a strict dichotomy of gay or straight.

• Services as Products

  • The dichotomy between physical goods and intangible services should not be given too much credence.

• Cognitive Biases as a Barrier to Decision Making

  • By categorizing individuals in terms of four dichotomies—thinking and feeling, extroversion and introversion, judging and perception, and sensing and intuition—the MBTI provides a map of the individual's orientation toward decision making.