real and deep and lasting versus the superficial

[Pavel Pin]

Judah tell Ben about his another woman in his life:

Judah: In the heat of passion, you say things. All I know is, after two years of shameful deceit, where I led this double life, I awakened as if from a dream and realized what I'd be losing.

Ben: It's called wisdom. It comes to some suddenly. We realize the difference between what's real and deep and lasting versus the superficial payoff of the moment.

What is the meaning of "versus" ?

Does it means "without" in this context?

Source: Crimes and Misdemeanors

 

[Keith Bradford]

Did you check this in the dictionaries? It's meaning no.2.

 

[Pavel Pin]

I check meaning no.2. It shows compare

How do you compare superficial payoff with real and deep and lasting?

 

[Hermione Golightly]

You realize that there's a difference between the two, when you compare or contrast them. This is a mental process.
Versus can also mean 'against'. The abbreviated form is 'vs', as we see in football games, Albion Women vs.Parted Whistle, for instance.

 

[Pavel Pin]

I am telling superficial payoff is different from real and deep and lasting.

It is like comparing oranges with apples.

 

[Hermione Golightly]

I check meaning no.2. It shows compare

This is what #2 shows:

as compared to or as one of two choices;
in contrast with:traveling by plane versus traveling by train. Abbr.:v., vs.

We can compare very different things, and things that are somewhat similar.
Often we decide that we prefer one of the things to the other.
In this case 'real, deep and lasting' is being compared with 'superficial', which is the opposite.

 

[velisarius]

It is like comparing oranges with apples.

I agree with you that it isn't an ideal comparison. I prefer more parallellism in a comparison, i.e. I like to see similar grammatical constructions compared.

For example, here it's clear what the two things being compared are:
We see the difference between a deep, lasting relationship and a brief meaningless affair.


What's real and deep and lasting - denotes a type of relationship: a thing (a relationship) that's lasting
The superficial payoff of the moment - describes a gain (derived from a fleeting connection).

On the other hand, the original version sounds much more like real speech, where we aren't often very careful about making exact comparisons of apples with apples and oranges with oranges.