Reality is made of opposites

Dear Mat,

"If only I could remove the emotional irrationality of relationships for the sake of constant tranquility," my friend Joe mused atop a sacred mountain in Mexico, contemplating life from a vantage point.

We can make judgments and distinguish between concrete and abstract things because each has an opposite that defines it. Everything is defined by its opposite. Without opposites, definition becomes impossible.

There's no concept of front without back, no black without white, no joy without sorrow.

Trying to eliminate seemingly negative things might unexpectedly erase their polar opposites too. How could you define joy without its opposite? It would become a natural, incorruptible state beyond our awareness. The very concept of joy would cease to exist.

Be wary of wishing to erase certain things, for their opposites would vanish too. Each thing exists in relation to its opposite, and this existence allows both sides to be experienced as either blissful or terrible.

Consider democracy and dictatorship: if we eliminated dictatorship and kept only democracy, the concept of democracy itself would vanish. It would simply be the default—the only option, with no contrast to define it. While fewer choices sometimes lead to better outcomes when the differences are minimal, they can also create needless limitations. Humans, driven by their prefrontal cortex, will always seek to create new oppositions and alternatives.

Romantically speaking, opposites create richness and depth in our experience of the world. From a rational point of view instead, fewer choices and concepts can be beneficial, reducing uncertainty and smoothing out the extreme highs and lows that come with polar opposites.