X-Ray Blogs: Leveraging Contrast

The X-Ray Effect: Why My Blogs Are Meant to Jolt, Not Just Inform

Exaggeration for revealing the hidden knowledge stuck between extremes!

When I sit down to write, I often have to exaggerate.

Let me explain. I take a complicated idea and strip it down to its simplest form. Then, I pit it against its stark opposite. This isn't about being misleading; it’s about creating a contrast so glaring that you can’t look away. It forces you to look closer, to question, and to start digging deeper within yourself.

This is what I call The X-Ray Effect.

Think about a piece of metal lodged deep inside the body. You don't need to see the beautiful colors of the surrounding tissue. You need to know the location, the shape, the exact position of that foreign object. For that, you need a simple X-ray—a stark, black-and-white image where the contrast is everything.

The X-ray picture is an exaggeration. It’s not how the body actually looks. But this exaggerated contrast is what allows a surgeon to discern tissue from bullet, to make a decision, and to act. It highlights the one thing that matters most.

My blogs operate on the same principle. They might not be encyclopedically perfect, but they are sufficient. They give someone just enough understanding to know what questions to ask, which expert to approach, or what path to pursue next. If you don't even know what you need to look for, how can you ever hope to find it?

This approach walks a delicate line. When you want to share something intellectual- say a point of view, you can’t assume your audience knows everything, nor can you treat them as if they know nothing. You have to find the middle path. A text written for experts is filled with complexity and jargon—it will soar right over most people's heads. The very nature of advanced subjects requires depth and nuance. So you also can’t write something that is simultaneously simple, easy, and perfectly accurate. Furthermore, a blog that doesn't challenge you is unlikely to elicit a strong adaptive response—one that either changes your viewpoint or solidifies it.

So, I use contrast. I exaggerate it to create a jolt, a sudden wake-up call that makes a person stop and think, "Oh my god, could it be?" In that moment of emotional friction, a genuine inquiry is born. You might realize the point is exaggerated, but you’ll also understand it’s exaggerated for a reason.

Let’s be practical. Most people operate on autopilot: Fever? Take a paracetamol. Pain? Grab a painkiller. Acidity? Reach for a proton pump inhibitor.....

When I write about these topics, I might exaggerate the long-term consequences of relentlessly suppressing a fever or overusing certain medications. The goal isn't to make someone who reads a blog on fever suddenly swear off medicine forever. That would be as dangerous and unrealistic as a speeding vehicle flipping over from a sudden stop.

A road sign that says "Accident spot ahead" does not suggest that you are going to have an accident. Its goal is to provide a gentle, persistent resistance to throw caution to the winds. The vehicle doesn't have to stop; the journey doesn't have to end. The sign is a call for action. Act, Be aware, Watch out, Slow down.

By reading this warning, a good driver starts to observe, validate, cross check and confirm if everything is in order. This sign is not meant to change your trajectory, it's there to give you time to rethink, validate and take a decision that would help you reach your destination safe and sound.

In a world where we rarely pause to study the processes that matter most—especially in health and education—we need these jolts. We need something to knock us out of our complacency, to make us pay attention.

And that attention is the entire intent. These blogs are not intended to be the final word on your education. They are intended to be the first word in your awakening. They are a wake-up call.

So, if you ever read something here that feels too stark, too simple, or too shocking, look for the contrast. Look for the X-ray. It’s not meant to show you the whole beautiful, complicated truth. It’s designed to help you find the piece of metal you didn’t even know was there.