The unity of opposites was first suggested by Heraclitus (ca. 535–475 BC) a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher.
Philosophers had for some time been contemplating the notion of opposites. Anaximander posited that every element was an opposite, or connected to an opposite (water is cold, fire is hot). Thus, the material world was composed by some indefinite, boundless apeiron from which arose the elements (earth, air, fire, water) and pairs of opposites (hot/cold, wet/dry). There was, according to Anaximander, a continual war of opposites. Anaximenes of Miletus, a student and successor of Anaximander, replaced this indefinite, boundless arche with air, a known element with neutral properties. According to Anaximenes, there was not so much a war of opposites, as a continuum of change. Heraclitus, however, did not accept the milesian monism and replaced their underling material arche with a single, divine law of the universe, which he called Logos. The universe of Heraclitus is in constant change, but also remaining the same. That is to say, an object moves from point A to point B, thus creating a change, but the underlying law remains the same. Thus, a unity of opposites is present in the universe as difference and sameness. This is a rather broad example though. For a more detailed example we may turn to an aphorism of Heraclitus:
The road up and the road down are the same thing. (Hippolytus, Refutations 9.10.3)
This is an example of a compresent unity of opposites. For, at the same time, this slanted road has the opposite qualities of ascent and descent. According to Heraclitus, every object co-instantiates at least one pair of opposites (though not necessarily in simultaneously) and every pair of opposites is co-instantiated in at least one object. Heraclitus also uses the succession of opposites as a base for change:
Cold things grow hot, a hot thing cold, a moist thing withers, a parched thing is wetted.
As a single object persists through opposite properties, this object undergoes change.
Bibliography
1. Encyclopaedia of the Philosophical Sciences (1830) Part One IV. Second Attitude of Thought to Objectivity TWO. THE CRITICAL PHILOSOPHY §40
* Craig, Edward (1998). Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Sociology of knowledge to Zaroastrianism. Taylor & Francis. pp. 437. ISBN 041516916X.
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Anonymous2011-06-27 7:25
The unity of opposites can best be illustrated using Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity. From the point of view of an object [A] in motion at 55mph, object [B] moving at 50mph along side is moving backwards as though 55mph = 0mph therefore object [B] moving at 50mph - 55mph = -5mph, is moving away at 5mph.
However, from the point of view of object [B], object [A] is leaving object [B] at 5mph. The vector math is the same, but the directions are different via relativity even though the absolute vectors are identical in direction. Each difference matters, and it matters to both points of view. Without hot there isn't cold, without wet, there isn't dry. It's not just a matter of understanding your external environment, it's also a matter of understanding yourself.
When you don't take yourself into account scientifically, you are subjectively integrating yourself into your observations, because those observations are yours, a human observation.
The only way to be objective is to know that you are always subjective in nature. Subjectivity is the default axiom that compels us to strive for objectivity objectively. If we are already objective, what need is there to strive for it...there would be no work involved and everything we would observe would reinforce everything that we already know and we would never learn anything new, just another novel way that decays over time of seeing what we already see; knowing what we already know without really being aware of what we are really doing. It comes down to the Alpha versus the Beta. The Alpha knows he is the Beta (axiomatically) and therefore strives to be the Alpha which leads him to being the Alpha. The Beta knows he is the Alpha (axiomatically) and therefore does not need to strive to be the Alpha which leads him to being the Beta which he already is.
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Anonymous2011-06-27 7:32
Even an Alpha believing himself to be an Alpha would find himself becoming the Beta because of this belief. This principle illustrates Pride in humans. When you know yourself, you don't just know your accomplishments, you don't just know your failures, you know what it takes TO accomplish, you know what it takes TO fail. That is knowing yourself. Not just the results, not just the actions, not just the choices, not just the intentions, not just beliefs; everything must be taken into account to find the relative nature for where to move, how to move, why to move, when to move, and whom is going to do the moving.
The answer to all questions are you yourself.
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Anonymous2011-06-27 7:37
Each level becomes the multiplier.
When you reach a sequence and add the prior numbers together and subtract the third you will get the opposite number as you have put in before.
using the Fibonacci sequence and multiplying each level of that sequence by any variable number (x) and adding each product reveals another sequence. Choose any two consecutive numbers in the new sequence, add them, subtract the following larger consecutive number and the difference is the negative of the initial variable number (-x).
You even might call this a "Gestalt Effect" because the third number in the new sequence is always greater than the prior two's sum by the multiplied variable.
How should I put this? "You get back what you put in".
You get what you give.
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Anonymous2011-06-27 7:42
This also holds true for the TAO:
Tao or Dao (道, Pinyin: About this sound Dào (help·info) ) is a Chinese word meaning 'way', 'path', 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'. Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, Tao is a metaphysical concept originating with Laozi that gave rise to a religion (Wade-Giles, Tao Chiao; Pinyin, Daojiao) and philosophy (Wade-Giles, Tao chia; Pinyin, Daojia) referred to in English with the single term Taoism. The concept of Tao was later adopted in Confucianism, Chán and Zen Buddhism and more broadly throughout East Asian philosophy and religion in general. Within these contexts Tao signifies the primordial essence or fundamental nature of the universe. In the foundational text of Taoism, the Tao Te Ching, Laozi explains that Tao is not a 'name' for a 'thing' but the underlying natural order of the universe whose ultimate essence is difficult to circumscribe. Tao is thus "eternally nameless” (Dao De Jing-32. Laozi) and to be distinguished from the countless 'named' things which are considered to be its manifestations. There is a close analogue in the Western tradition, with the German philosophical term "Sein", generally translated as Being, but it would be more accurate to understand that Tao also would include Nothingness as well.
In Taoism, Chinese Buddhism and Confucianism, the object of spiritual practice is to 'become one with the tao' (Tao Te Ching) or to harmonise one's will with Nature (cf. Stoicism). This involves meditative and moral practices. Important in this respect is the Taoist concept of De (virtue).
In all its uses, Dao is considered to have ineffable qualities that prevent it from being defined or expressed in words. It can, however, be known or experienced, and its principles (which can be discerned by observing Nature) can be followed or practiced. Much of East Asian philosophical writing focuses on the value of adhering to the principles of Tao and the various consequences of failing to do so. In Confucianism and religious forms of Daoism these are often explicitly moral/ethical arguments about proper behavior, while Buddhism and more philosophical forms of Daoism usually refer to the natural and mercurial outcomes of action (comparable to karma). Dao is intrinsically related to the concepts yin and yang (Pinyin: yīnyáng), where every action creates counter-actions as unavoidable movements within manifestations of the Dao, and proper practice variously involves accepting, conforming to, or working with these natural developments.
The concept of Tao differs from conventional (western) ontology, however; it is an active and holistic conception of Nature, rather than a static, atomistic one.
Basically, every unity holds within it a duality and every unity is one side of the duality of a larger unity. Revealing that everything is co-dependent.
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Anonymous2011-06-27 12:29
Who wants to be my wing so we can PU some HB9s using CF/pAImAI to get past the AFCs? GFTOW.