Posted by Simeon (208.24.179.208) on August 29, 2002 at 09:50:55:

In Reply to: Re: Evil - Nothing exists without its opposite. posted by ANON on August 24, 2002 at 21:37:28:

ANON,

>> I banish darkness (real) by opening a light (real); both the dark
and the light are real. Dark is the absence of light just as light is
the absence of dark. Each exists, in "reality" as all other elements
of the universe, from the microscopic to the macrocosmic, by duality.
Nothing exists without its opposite. <<

>> Finally, since I used the concept of abstractions, like pure
numbers, I should also add that a positive abstraction always exists
in conjunction with a negative abstraction. <<

In these statements you are creating a contradiction. While it may be
true, at the level of abstractions, that there are always opposites,
this is not the case in the world of physical reality. You use the
example of light/dark in the above quote, and state that "light is the
absence of dark." However, this is completely incorrect. Light is
the *presence* of photons. Darkness is the *absence* of photons. There
is no "particle of darkness" that can transmit some physical dark from
one place to another. There is, however, a particle of light.

While the attempt to define this concept (non-existence of evil) using
mathematics mis-fired (math is an abstraction, after all), the analogy
of light/dark is a very good one. In this example, darkness only exists
in the absence of a concrete "thing" - a photon. There is no "darkon"
that can accumulate to make something appear darker. Therefore, darkness
does not have a positive existence. Light, however, is quantifiable and
can be indicated by an accumulation of photons - it therefore does have
a positive existence. We can measure the amount of light an object emits
*without* reference to darkness. We cannot, however, measure the amount
of "dark" an object "emits" except by reference to a lower level of
light.

While each concept (light/darkness) can be said to be relative to the
other, there is only one "material" reality beneath it, the photon
... light.

In fact, there are many concepts in the universe that do not have an
opposite. Mass, gravity, speed, distance, etc. are examples. Duality
is only one abstract way of looking at the universe, and it doesn't
always hold.

Peace,
Simeon

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