Working with Light and Dark

[Catcocomics]

11 months ago, I created a thread discussing Heroes, Villains, and to some extent, Anti-Heroes.

Now, on this fine equinox (or at least, it's been the equinox for me for about 3 hours now), I wish to discuss the elements of Light and Dark.

Keep in mind, they are elements, not alignments, so just because someone is dark does not make them "evil", and just because someone is light does not make them "good".
You will all please be sure to leave this massive western misunderstanding at the door when you come in, please.



I'll probably keep this post short-ish because 3 A.M., perfect time to be typing anything, but I'll start with some... stuff I might consider basic.

Firstly, yes, the yin-yang can represent light and dark, but light and dark are not its primary focus. The yin-yang comes from Taoism (and for those who don't know, the T is pronounced as a D), a philosophy with a dualistic focus on opposites (as well as union of man and nature), and more importantly, the integral role of numerous opposites that, when joined together, compliment each other grandly (such as dark and light, with a mixture being needed to not instantly be blind).

Now, a quick look at the light and a number of its traits:

Most important is that light is information. I am not currently in the best state to describe to anyone how this is, but I may throw references such as Laser-scan disks and optical-fiber cables, which are basically the transmitting of light from or through objects to various forms of computers.

Light is also an expression of energy and excitement; too much light can get chaotic, hyper, and sense might be lost in this type of unbalance.

Light is an expression of the divine, I don't even need to say why.

But, ironically (given some of my past behaviors that some of you may have observed), I may have an easier time talking about the dark, the shadows.

Darkness is very mysterious to most, and most are taught to fear it, for it is unknown to many.
However, coming to know darkness is invaluable to all (a process that I am going through now), for there are many things that can and must be done in the absence of light.

Dark is an expression of calm and introspection, the former very necessary for resting, meditating, and for the latter, which is vital for learning about who you are, where you are weak in your ways, and how to remedy said weakness.

That said, pure darkness is of itself, very daunting; people new to the darkness should take care not to get lost in its vast depths.
However, some experience with the shadows can teach you how to anchor yourself to the world you know, so that you may ponder the vast depths and return safely.

The darkness may also express solitude, which while that may get lonely, there will always be at least one time in your life where you have had enough dealings with the people around you and absolutely must get to where none may disturb you.
This is also invaluable to introspection, for someone who travels alone will have no one to talk to except themselves, and talking to your many selves is a great way to know your selves.

Enough for now, though, because it's almost 4 now, and I'm not even sure that I'm making sense at this point, but do bring discussion, the more others talk, the more I may be able to recall and discover for purposes of sharing.

 

[Aqua]

What?

 

[HKCaper]

While I know the meaning behind the following quote follows the 'western misunderstanding', I still really like it, and I thought I'd share it:

"If you look for the light, you can often find it.But if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see." - Iroh (from avatar)

 

[Nottykitten]

 

[Aqua]

r/iamverysmart


Edit: Did it reddit
https://www.reddit.com/r/iamverysmart/comments/71uhr2/working_with_light_and_dark/

 

[Notme]

r/iamverysmart

or r/im14andthisisdeep

Its just joke.

 

[Infected_alien8_]

Or r/I(Catcocomics)WantToTalkAboutSomethingThatInterestsMetButAquaAndNotmeAreBeingMeanAndJudgementalAndShouldBePermaGlobalBanned((((

 

[Notme]

Or r/I(Catcocomics)WantToTalkAboutSomethingThatInterestsMetButAquaAndNotmeAreBeingMeanAndJudgementalAndShouldBePermaGlobalBanned((((

Chill its just joke

 

[Scrable]

Nice, another "philosophical" thread.... Well. Ok

Light and Dark. With the scientific approach, there is no dark. There is only light, but with different intensities.
Why darkness is scary? Because like you said, light is pretty much information, too much might overwork you.
Now darkness is caused by a lack of light. Or rather, it is the natural state of things. Since darkness has no light, there is no information, thus you aren't sure what you are doing... If there weren't other senses.

Now that my misconception is out of the way, to the abstract theme of Light and Dark.

I believe with the Yin-Yang, the black shows the good, the white shows the evil.
So since black is dark and white is bright/light. We have got that.
I actually have no idea what we are even talking about. What exactly is the point you are trying to make?

I don't buy into dark and light.

 

[Catcocomics]

I actually have no idea what we are even talking about.

I kind of got that impression from the rest of your post.

What exactly is the point you are trying to make?

Why do you think I'm trying to make a point?

While I know the meaning behind the following quote follows the 'western misunderstanding', I still really like it, and I thought I'd share it:

"If you look for the light, you can often find it.But if you look for the dark that is all you will ever see." - Iroh (from avatar)

Sometimes when you are spreading philosophical teachings to a younger/less experience person, you have to speak in terms that they already grasp.
Additionally, the way the English language is used makes it hard to not use light and dark in direct reference of alignment, and there is nothing that can be done about this beyond changing the language itself (which will require most of the English users to accomplish).

 

[Vatumok]

Light and dark, outside of physical definitions, can mean anything you want it to mean. There are multiple things you can associate with both light and darkness. This doesn't go for just dark&light but you can give basically anything a special meaning in life. Many people associate darkness with cold, dangerous, evil, etc. but your interpretation is just as correct. It's just how you look at things, and if this way of thinking about light and darkness gives you comfort then it's a really good thing IMO. The reason people troll in the thread is because you try to pass it off as some hard truth and you say that the rest misunderstands it. I think your viewpoint is interesting but you have to understand that meanings change drastically based on your philosophy. Other people are not wrong or misunderstand it, they just see it in a different way.

 

[Infected_alien8_]

Yeah, a lot of what you said is just your personal relationship with dark/light it seems, rather than just what light and dark is, which is light energy or absence of it, right? Which obviously comes with effects and stuff, but the things you've said, I feel, can easily be argued against. For example,

Light is also an expression of energy and excitement; too much light can get chaotic, hyper, and sense might be lost in this type of unbalance.

Light is an expression of the divine, I don't even need to say why.

Dark is an expression of calm and introspection,

I'm kinda curious as to why you associate light with 'excitement', 'hyper'ness, and 'chaos' , and why you associate dark with 'calm' and 'introspection'.

 

[Catcocomics]

I'm kinda curious as to why you associate light with 'excitement', 'hyper'ness, and 'chaos' , and why you associate dark with 'calm' and 'introspection'.

to put it quickly:
*scientifically speaking, photons are emitted by excited electrons changing energy levels.
*fireworks.
*those annoying troll videos designed to give people seizures.

*being in a dark room can bring about a sense of solitude, and with nothing else to focus on, introspection occurs.
*being in a dark room of the right setting can be very calming.
*darkness is associated with winter (not hard to see why), which is meant to be a time of self-reflection and introspection.

The reason people troll in the thread is because you try to pass it off as some hard truth and you say that the rest misunderstands it.

My apologies, the main intent of my "hard truth" thing was aimed at common westerners thinking that the Yin-Yang was entirely centered on a good/evil concept, which while it can be good to have your own opinion;
1. it' not really their own opinion when they're just regurgitating confused/hasty "teachings" from those who have done no research.
2. some things, such as the Taoist Yin-Yang do actually have a solid meaning by those who created and uphold it.

What I mean by 1. is that I have literally seen people walk up to a big ol' Yin-Yang and be like "oh, so that side is white and that side is black, white is good, black is evil, and there's a bit of one in the other, so everyone has good and evil in them".
While the end conclusion is not entirely false, they completely miss the actual intended design of the Yin-Yang being a symbol of unified opposites working in harmony.
Sorry for the rant, but it just annoys me how ignorant western culture tends to be to... other cultures.


Also, as far as trolling in the thread goes, I really don't care if it happens or not (in fact, I kind of find some of it to be amusing), just so long as there is some actually focused conversation going on for the duration of the thread.

It kind of goes along with an experiment I've heard of multiple people doing that involves 3 equal cups of rice sitting in water.
The first cup, labelled "love", is spoken to with kindness and respect.
The second cup, labelled "hate", is yelled at and dissed.
The third cup, which isn't even given a label, is flat-out ignored.
Unsurprisingly, the first cup takes much longer than the second to rot.
However, the second cup takes an eternity more to rot than the third.

The conclusion to the experiment is that, while positive energy is definitely the best, negative energy is at least somewhat better than no energy at all, and I've noticed that this tends to play true here with many threads on these forums.

So, thanks for posting here, even if more than half of it is silly banter.

 

[Aqua]

just so long as there is some actually focused conversation going on for the duration of the thread.

I mean, you didn't really give any room to expand or to add... you kinda just said something... it was weird :S

I'd much rather talk about Nietzsche' "parable of the Madman" and how "God is dead and we killed him". Personally I think he was an edgy edgelord and that the lord God is still alive inside all of us today. Amen.

negative energy is at least somewhat better than no energy at all, and I've noticed that this tends to play true here with many threads on these forums.

Wait negative energy? You talking about Negative Matter and Antimatter because they're just hypothetical atm so if you're hiding the secret's to infinite expansion on the forums you better tell me where

 

[Infected_alien8_]

to put it quickly:
*scientifically speaking, photons are emitted by excited electrons changing energy levels.
*fireworks.
*those annoying troll videos designed to give people seizures.

*being in a dark room can bring about a sense of solitude, and with nothing else to focus on, introspection occurs.
*being in a dark room of the right setting can be very calming.
*darkness is associated with winter (not hard to see why), which is meant to be a time of self-reflection and introspection.
.

Okay but:

Electrons don't get "excited", they move more rapidly right? Excifment is an emotion and you're personifying emotions less events (as far as I know anyway)

Fireworks being exciting/hyper? (Personification? Or were you talking about your emotional reaction to them?) is again your own subjective view - personally they terrify me, and the effect of fireworks will be different for lots of people's (Edit: or are you talking about the connection of fireworks ---> lots of kinetic energy ---> lots of energy in a human ---> hyper? Or aren't you even talking about hyper as a feeling, am I misinterpreting?)

I don't know what troll videos you're talking about but if it's the flashing light ones, aren't they so chaotic because it's a rapid switch between dark and light, meaning both are involved? Idk

Being in a light room can do the same, or seeing (with light) peaceful and pleasent sights. Being in a dark room can be calming or the opposite of calming and the same with light. Depends who you are.

Why is winter "meant" to be about self reflection? Isn't winter just a time of year where the earth is in a certain place and anything attatched to that, like it being about introspection, is just someone's opinion/idea which is again subjective?

 

[HKCaper]

scientifically speaking, photons are emitted by excited electrons changing energy levels.

Electrons don't get "excited", they move more rapidly right?

What Catco is referring to is the excitement of atoms, where photons are emitted or absorped causing where an electron in the orbit of an atom can go into a higher excited state when a photon is absorbed, and into a lower excited state under emission of a photon.

It has nothing to do with the emotional excitement though.

 

[HKCaper]

Also, something to think about I guess, light creates darkness, i got 3 sort of examples to work with here, last one is a more philosopical jibberish:

1) Shadows are creations of light.
2)If you look directly into the sun for too long, you will be blinded.
3)If there was no light, darkness would have no counterpart to differentiate with, would darkness still exist if there was no light.

 

[Aqua]

Okay but:

Electrons don't get "excited", they move more rapidly right? Excifment is an emotion and you're personifying emotions less events (as far as I know anyway)

Fireworks being exciting/hyper? (Personification? Or were you talking about your emotional reaction to them?) is again your own subjective view - personally they terrify me, and the effect of fireworks will be different for lots of people's (Edit: or are you talking about the connection of fireworks ---> lots of kinetic energy ---> lots of energy in a human ---> hyper? Or aren't you even talking about hyper as a feeling, am I misinterpreting?)

I don't know what troll videos you're talking about but if it's the flashing light ones, aren't they so chaotic because it's a rapid switch between dark and light, meaning both are involved? Idk

Being in a light room can do the same, or seeing (with light) peaceful and pleasent sights. Being in a dark room can be calming or the opposite of calming and the same with light. Depends who you are.

Why is winter "meant" to be about self reflection? Isn't winter just a time of year where the earth is in a certain place and anything attatched to that, like it being about introspection, is just someone's opinion/idea which is again subjective?

What, elections getting "excited" is the correct terminology, did you do GCSE chemistry????

Go back to TTT and leave the shitposting to the professionals kiddo

 

[Infected_alien8_]

What, elections getting "excited" is the correct terminology, did you do GCSE chemistry????

Go back to TTT and leave the shitposting to the professionals kiddo

Ok but I'm pretty sure cacto is meaning the emotion excitement and is linking it to terminology which does not mean the same thing

 

[Aqua]

Ok but I'm pretty sure cacto is meaning the emotion excitement and is linking it to terminology which does not mean the same thing

Idc what catco said, now leave this thread before I have to get your parents.

 

[Catcocomics]

Ok but I'm pretty sure cacto is meaning the emotion excitement and is linking it to terminology which does not mean the same thing

No, believe it or not, I was actually referring to the terminology I was presented in my Junior High School Physics class.

Fireworks being exciting/hyper? (Personification? Or were you talking about your emotional reaction to them?) is again your own subjective view - personally they terrify me, and the effect of fireworks will be different for lots of people's (Edit: or are you talking about the connection of fireworks ---> lots of kinetic energy ---> lots of energy in a human ---> hyper? Or aren't you even talking about hyper as a feeling, am I misinterpreting?)

You're simply over thinking it, though the logic chain you present with the arrow progression is mostly what I had in mind (plus I find explosions in general to be of a chaotic nature).

Wait negative energy? You talking about Negative Matter and Antimatter because they're just hypothetical atm so if you're hiding the secret's to infinite expansion on the forums you better tell me where

No, I'm just speaking with a well-rounded perception of the world that has a place for both the physical, scientific, and spiritual.

Also, something to think about I guess, light creates darkness, i got 3 sort of examples to work with here, last one is a more philosopical jibberish:

1) Shadows are creations of light.

There are many different ways a person could take this;
*there is no actually creating shadows because shadows are an absence of a something.
*shadows are made of light just as everything else that exists in this realm is.
*creating/destroying is impossible, so by technicality, shadows are formed by manipulations of light.

2)If you look directly into the sun for too long, you will be blinded.

This is a great way of removing both dark AND light from your reality, if only temporarily.

3)If there was no light, darkness would have no counterpart to differentiate with, would darkness still exist if there was no light.

I believe the reasoning is that light is necessary for dark to exist, but light loses meaning without darkness.
More simplified:
If we didn't have light, how would we know about dark?
If we didn't have dark, how would we know about light?

I mean, you didn't really give any room to expand or to add... you kinda just said something... it was weird :S

I believe I stated in the opening post that I was starting this thread around 3 or 4 in the morning?

I'd much rather talk about Nietzsche' "parable of the Madman" and how "God is dead and we killed him". Personally I think he was an edgy edgelord and that the lord God is still alive inside all of us today. Amen.

let's take it a step further and say that we are all pieces of "god", if we define god as the infinite creator/the all (as in all is one, one is all)/source/whatever other names Terrans have come up for it.

 

[Aqua]

*creating/destroying is impossible, so by technicality, shadows are formed by manipulations of light.

Creating may be impossible but destroying isn't I.E Inevitable heat death of the universe

 

[HKCaper]

creating/destroying is impossible

what do you mean?
what about lamps, or fire i'd say that certainly creates light.
also what about absorbtion of light, wouldnt you say that "destroys" light?

 

[Infected_alien8_]

what do you mean?
what about lamps, or fire i'd say that certainly creates light.
also what about absorbtion of light, wouldnt you say that "destroys" light?

If I remember my good ole GCSE science correctly, energy can't be destroyed, just converted to other forms of energy I think? Idk though

 

[HKCaper]

but when light is converted into other energy, wouldnt you say the light is 'destroyed'

or when two photons come together and create an electron and a positron (or the other way around and an electron and a positron create two photons)