A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. They are often contrasting and spoken of as "opposites". The term comes from dichotomos (divided): dich- ([in] two) temnein (to cut).

A false dichotomy is not jointly exhaustive or not mutually exclusive. It is a logical fallacy, usually in which two entities are presented as if they are exhaustive, when in fact other alternatives are possible. In some cases, they may be presented as if they are mutually exclusive although there is a broad middle ground. The logical fallacy of false dilemma, also known as fallacy of the excluded middle, false dichotomy, either/or dilemma or bifurcation, is to set up two alternative points of view as if they were the only options, when they are not. ...

Dichotomies are common in Western thought. C.P. Snow believes that Western society has become an argument culture. In The Argument Culture (1998), Deborah Tannen suggests that the dialogue of Western culture is characterized by a warlike atmosphere in which the winning side has truth (like a trophy). In such a dialogue, the middle alternatives are virtually ignored. C. P. Snow, born Charles Percy Snow, (1905-1980) was a scientist and novelist. ... Deborah Tannen (born June 7, 1951) is a professor of sociolinguistics at Georgetown University. ...

In monetary economics, a special branch of economics dealing with money and the financial system of a country, classical dichotomy refers to the division between real money, which is measured in physical terms and is usually supposed to be a better indicator of money value due to its stability, and nominal money, which is measured in terms of a currency and hence is susceptible to inflation. According to Milton Friedman, who is commonly referred to as the father of monetary economics, different forces influence real and nominal variables (money value here) and changes in the money supply affect nominal variables but not real variables. This irrelevance of monetary changes for real variables is called monetary neutrality. Economics (from the Greek οίκος [oikos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules, hence household management) is the social science that studies the production, distribution, trade and consumption of goods and services in the context of the competing alternative allocations of goods and courses of action. ... Nominal money, in economics, is the quantity of money measured in a particular currency, and is directly proportional to the price level. ... Milton Friedman Milton Friedman (born July 31, 1912) is a U.S. economist, known primarily for his work on macroeconomics and for his advocacy of laissez-faire capitalism. ...

In biology, a dichotomy is a distribution of genera into two species. Such dichotomies are used as part of the process of classifying species, to build a taxonomic key. When classifying, a series of questions is asked which narrows down what is being examined, to indicate where it belongs in the hierarchy. A well known dichotomy is the question "does it have a backbone?", used to divide species into vertebrates and invertebrates. Main articles: Life All organisms (viruses not included) consist of cells, which in turn, are based on a common carbon-based biochemistry. ... Taxonomy (from Greek ταξινομία (taxinomia) from the words taxis = order and nomos = law) may refer to either the classification of things, or the principles underlying the classification. ... A hierarchy (in Greek hieros, sacred, and arkho, rule) is a system of ranking and organizing things. ... Typical classes Petromyzontidae (lampreys) Placodermi - extinct Chondrichthyes (cartilaginous fish) Acanthodii - extinct Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish) Actinistia (coelacanths) Dipnoi (lungfish) Amphibia (amphibians) Reptilia (reptiles) Aves (birds) Mammalia (mammals) Vertebrata is a subphylum of chordates, specifically, those with backbones or spinal columns. ... Invertebrate is a term coined by Jean-Baptiste Lamarck to describe any animal without a spinal column. ...

In computer science, more specifically programming language engineering, the term dichotomy is used to denote fundamental dualities in a language's design. For instance, C++ has a dichotomy in its memory model (heap versus stack), whereas Java has a dichotomy in its type system (classes versus primitive data types). Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Computer Science Open Directory Project: Computer Science Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies Belief that title science in computer science is inappropriate Categories: Computer science ...

External link

• Dichotomy analysis