private boolean normalizedNodeStateSimilarTo(final NodeType nodeType, final NodeState lhs, final NodeState rhs) { final NodeState lhsNormalized = (lhs != null ? lhs : defaultUpNodeState(nodeType)); final NodeState rhsNormalized = (rhs != null ? rhs : defaultUpNodeState(nodeType)); return lhsNormalized.similarTo(rhsNormalized); }