Quote:
Originally Posted by Worldwalker
Are there always two sides to every story?
Well, there are an infinite number of sides, of course, but two valid sides?
For instance, what is the other side to "apples fall when you drop them" or "the world is round"?
This "there are two sides to everything" fallacy is exactly why various media outlets dig up some "dissenting" view on, well, everything (at least everything a poorly-educated reporter can't understand) and give his views equal time with the overwhelming majority. They feel they have to give "both sides" even when there is no legitimate other side. Were the shape of the Earth involved, they'd give a flat-Earther equal weight. Shooting a guy in a saloon because you don't like his face is a Bad Thing, and no "two sides" can make it into anything else.
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Ever watch
Penn & Teller's Bullshit? I think you'd really like that show.
And yes, there can be two sides to a story (or, as you say, an infinite number of sides). Really, a story can be told from the point of view of any of the participants, no matter how minor. You can tell the story of the guy who shot another guy just to watch him die... but will it be interesting? Will it resonate with readers? That's the struggle fiction writers will face.
Take Lolita, for instance. Pedophilia is, arguably, wrong. (Morals aren't hard and fast rules like gravity and the shape of the Earth.) And yet here we have a "classic" book that's told from the pov of the pedophile. Is it a "legitimate" view point? It certainly made for an engaging read. I would read a re-imagined version of Lolita (probably already exists? I'm not going to check) from the point of Lo.