I wrote a blog post about the cosmic dichotomy some time ago. Essentially, I argued that all things have two equal and opposite parts. For example, light and dark make are two halves of the same whole, as is religion and atheism.In this post I would like to argue that these forces permeate all systems in the natural world and human culture and that over time they will inevitably switch positions resulting in a positive and necessary outcome.
My interest in this theory grew after learning about the way natural systems behave. The first natural system I learned about was the oscillating behavior of climate. Over time the world’s climate slowly reverses. We have periods of heating and cooling. Right now we are in a heating cycle, but in the past our earth has experienced many ice ages. If we follow this pattern we will see another ice age in the future. And so the pattern moves like a wave. It oscillates between both extremes of the dichotomy. Another example of a natural oscillation is the direction of the earth’s magnetic fields. Every 500,000 years on average the magnetic fields reverse. According to some researchers we are actually going through a reversal right now. And so it goes again, like a wave, the earth’s magnetic fields change direction over time.
The natural world has a cosmic balance. It knows what it needs to do to be successful. There is an order to the universe.
If we apply these observations to human culture we see similar results. In human history we have been through many changes: Political ideologies, systems of government and different religions. Each idea gets its time, it reaches a climax and then declines as the naturally opposing idea takes it place. For example, in the U.S. one could observe the Republican party a representation of conservatism and the Democratic party a representation of liberalism. Each election changes the direction of power and we swing back and forth.
At an even more basic level we can observe these interactions within human relationships. My girlfriend and I are opposites in many ways and I observe the struggle of power cycles between our dichotomies. Although most people feel a natural aversion to change, this is not something to be concerned about. This undulating cycle is actually a generator of change and therefore growth.
Change is brought about by the meeting and subsequent interaction between two forces of energy. If both energies are equal and stable, no change will occur; and therefore no growth will occur. One example of a dichotomy within our relationship is introversion vs extroversion. I am the introverted energy and she is the extroverted. There will be many times where she will want to go out and socialize while I just don’t feel like it. However, this extroverted energy is the force that also gives me the necessary motivation to get out of the house more than I would normally, and my introverted energy also gives her the necessary grounding when she has been going out too much. While it is tempting to ask her to stay at home with me all the time, and while she is tempted to ask me to go out with her all the time, it would ultimately destroy us. If one of our energies became dominant, the pendulum of perpetual motion would stop swinging equally between energies and the relationship would stagnate. Instead, we compromise and are thus consistently pushed out of our comfort zones. The result is a satisfying personal growth and constant rejuvenation in the overall relationship.
The political philosopher Edmund Burke once said “A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation”, And that the “Reciprocal struggle of discordant powers draws out the harmony of the universe.” Do not resist change. Overcome your fears and grow.
My Perception Exposition 