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The Relative/absolute fallacy

Similar to Ken Wilber's "Pre/trans fallacy", which is about conflating pre-rational views with trans-rational views, the Relative/absolute fallacy is about conflating relative perspectives with The Absolute perspective. This is the main source of confusion in the forms of spirituality that deal with the implications of non-duality (Oneness).

There are generally two levels to the fallacy:

1. The first level is the conflation that happens when you don't have knowledge about the distinction between the relative and The Absolute (dual/non-dual). This is common in pre-rational religious people (Wilber). The way that traditional religion interprets various holy texts is itself a good example.

2. The second level happens when you do have knowledge about the distinction between relative and absolute (but it's obviously not complete knowledge). This is common in (aspiring) trans-rational people. A common example is to think that because nothing ultimately really matters, morality doesn't matter, and therefore it's fine to for example hurt other people. This is to conflate "the relative" with "The Absolute". From The Absolute perspective, yes, nothing really matters, but morality can only ever be defined "relative" to a certain value system in the first place. By taking the absolute perspective, you're deliberately stepping outside of all value systems, but "it's fine to hurt other people" would be a moral statement, which means you're actually invoking a relative perspective.
You're conflating relative perspectives with The Absolute perspective ("The Relative/Absolute Fallacy").

Albert thinks he is God and nobody else is. Albert has committed the Relative/Absolute Fallacy.
by Carich99 December 23, 2020
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relative humidity

when someone is getting it on physically with one of their relative.
Leave my cousin and I alone in a room for 5 minutes and the relative humidity will get so high our pants get all wet.
by aris00 September 9, 2011
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Rel

A very handsome, wonderful, bursting with personality, kind, loving, hard-working, and the hottest person ever to be born. He is so kind of a king and has a big dick. We all love you Rel
Yo have u ever heard of this guy named Rel? YEAH HE HAS A NICE DICK
by Big Black Boom Boom September 12, 2022
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Inside relative grand slam

A man scoring 4 different generations of women at the same time within the same family
"Hey Bobby, I went to my girlfriend's family reunion, and I scored an inside relative grand slam!"
by BeatleBabe007 September 18, 2024
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Rel-AI-tionship

(noun) – A connection sustained more by algorithms than emotion.
“We’re in a solid Rel-AI-tionship — the bot handles our arguments.”
by ms7 October 12, 2025
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entirely relative

Entirely relative
by KrypteX January 15, 2022
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A relative term

Guys! It's a relative term! Relax! How was I supposed to know I think in PhD level psychology as a matter of default?
Hym "Did I not tell you Jordan's next book was going to be me? You see them cannibalizing my work and converting it into conservative talking points right? Like... Yeah. I mean, I tried to bash my own brains in but they're just too strong! I got them strong brains, baby. And it's a relative term so it's not like a huge deal. I'm the greatest mind who's ever lived! I can't help it! My skull meat is the juiciest! What do you want me to do here?"
by Hym Iam August 27, 2023
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