Hot and cold, God and the Devil, male and female, cats and dogs — it seems everywhere we look in this reality, we see opposing elements.
Take siblings. I’ve met many families during my brief time on this planet and it seems brothers and sisters, brothers and brothers or sisters and sisters typically represent differing forces in the universe.
When I look at my own family, I am somewhat amazed just how different the personalities of my brother Nigel, sister Paige and me are to each other. While clearly I have cornered the black sheep market in the Haydu tribe, Paige is a little more conventional and Nigel’s a bit of an aspiring do-gooder.
Certainly, we juxtapose each other significantly and I often find it hard to believe we’re all actually in the same family at all. Yet, it’s a very common occurrence that someone might tell me just how much alike the Haydu kids (now in their 30s) seem in one way or another. I don’t see it, but I guess it’s there somehow.
I suppose while my siblings and I might seem like opposites, we really are just different sides of a three-sided coin.
The South Korean flag is undoubtedly the most beautiful in the world (in my opinion), as well as probably the most philosophical. Smack in the middle of that highly recognizable flag is likely one of the most recognizable symbols of all time — yin yang.
Eloquent in its simplicity, the swirling intertwined halves of the yin-yang circle represent opposing forces as interconnected and propelling each other forward — deeply depending on each other in that way I presume Eastern thought imagines all things must be.
There was at time I lived in the spectacle and general poor air quality that is South Korea. If one can get past the congestion and disregard for the well being of sea life at local fish markets, one is quite captivated by the overall fascination of the whole place.
One of the more interesting aspects about living in South Korea is probably the simple fact a Soviet-style communist-dictatorship hovers just north of Seoul. I went to the DMZ during my adventures through the peninsula.
That a bizarre experience to be standing on the edge of a capitalist and relatively free society (although South Korea is not without it’s shady past), gazing across a heavily monitored expanse at people so similar to the South Koreans in almost every way (ethnically, historically, culturally), yet also in many ways the polar opposite.
I suppose the Koreans serve as an example of how seemingly opposing forces in the universe actually can be similar. Because of some political decisions and conflicts over half a century ago, one nation became two and both developed extremely different world views on state levels.
However, I doubt a North Korean and South Korean are really any different. They probably share a lot more in common than media would suggest.
Even something as generally accepted (at least by some classic cultural suggestions) as opposing — the genders — really isn’t much of a juxtaposition. If I recall biology class correctly, we all start out after conception as females.
However, at some point in fetal development, the little Y-chromosome in men does its one job, which is to get those masculine hormones in place and magically tweak some body parts, stretching and reorganizing the sexual organs in various capacities.
So really, the difference between men and women isn’t that spectacular. We’re just variations of the same basic structure.
Yet, the seemingly opposing nature of opposing genders strikes me as useful in some ways (although some ways not), possibly helping propel our species forward.
For example, at the risk of sounding sexist, I’ve always thought the presence of women in the workforce somehow forces men to perform with more civility and not turning the entire public sphere into a locker room. After all, what guy wants to act like a foul dink when there are girls around?
Would men act so cautiously around women if they didn’t regard them as somehow mysterious and other?
Ultimately, I am reminded of that Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where Data turns into a sun god and Picard assumes the role of a moon god. Both act out characters dwelling on opposite sides of reality that are still dependent on each other for existence and meaning.
I guess there are opposing forces in the universe and such forces do serve their purpose. However, at the same time — be it genders, Koreans or the Haydu kids — those opposites seem more like parts of the same swirling circle.
