I haven't studied Taoism or Yin-Yang in depth. My definitions are tailored to fit my own personal philosophical worldview. I was not intending to adopt the "Chinese indigenous religion". Instead, I was only interested in the general concept of a natural balancing & harmonizing trend that is similar to my own BothAnd Principle.↪Gnomon
It's not the same if you study yin-yang further my definition is different, it is also slightly different from what you explained — Thinking
I can't speak for Taoists. But in my worldview, the natural world is inherently dualistic. It's as-if the Big Bang Singularity was a fertilized Ovum, which divided via Meiosis/Mitosis, and has continued to divide ever since into the myriad "forms most beautiful", as described by Darwin. The first division converted Eternity-Infinity into Space-Time. Then came Matter/Energy, and so forth & so on, right on down to the essential Male/Female distinction that is necessary for most reproduction..Do both parts of the ying-yang always exist? Are they opposites which have existence as a constantly common characteristic, or could one of the opposites actually never exist (is there a scenario where there is only ying or only yang)? — Daniel
That is indeed the ultimate opposition. That's why I say that BEING (power to exist) is the ultimate Truth. But, apparently, absolute BEING somehow became split into Existence vs Non-Existence. The possibility of non-existence is inherent in the Life or Death duality of our world.Just to be super clear my opposites are simply existence vs non-existence. — Thinking
But the secret to happiness, not just survival, is find the BothAnd (win-win) sweet-spot between those extremes. :cool: — Gnomon
Dan. This is an afterthought or postscript to your question.Do both parts of the ying-yang always exist? Are they opposites which have existence as a constantly common characteristic, or could one of the opposites actually never exist (is there a scenario where there is only ying or only yang)? — Daniel
Actually, the Yin-Yang model does "recognize" gradients of dichotomies. That's the meaning of the black spot in the white lobe, and the white spot in the black lobe. The world is pulled-apart by competing forces, but neither is strong-enough to overcome completely. That's because each side contains some of the power (seed) of its opposite. So, instead of a black & white world, we see shades of gray. :smile:Ying/Yang models fail to recognise that there are granulations of processes which are neither good nor bad or left or right... — Mick Wright
OK. When you find it, let me know, and I'll use a different allegory. :joke:So the monopole thing is an example of us just not finding a thing we know is there... — Mick Wright
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