No point here, just babbling...

[wispfox]

Random not yet very well verbalized thought while trying unsuccessfully to sleep last night (the valerian root did finally kick in, thankfully).

I realized that there were no opposites that I could think of where I was not happier with them being thought of as opposite ends of a spectrum, rather than them being the only options with no mixing allowed. I cannot find any cases where a pair of opposites are the only choices, with no middle ground.

I don't know what to do with this idea. I've often suspected that life would be much easier if I *could* believe in clear boundaries between opposites, but I think it would also be very, very uncomfortable for who I am. I like being switchy. And I like to try to see other people's sides of things, of which there are very rarely only two. Hell, I, personally, tend to have multiple mental and emotional states at any given time.

Comments

[wcg.livejournal.com]

There are instances in nature where only two states are allowed. Things like the spin state of an electron, for example. Or the difference between protons and neutrons, though it is possible for an inherently unstable neutron to decay into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino there is essentially no chance of a proton becoming a neutron by any decay process. Likewise, no electron will ever become a positron, and there's no other fermion like the electron with an intermediate value of charge or mass or spin.

When we get to systems as complex as human beings, you're correct in seeing that the state function allows for more than two states in just about every case. Sometimes many more than two states are allowed, and sometimes the state function permits a continuum.

Which is all a very convoluted way of saying that in Young's two slit experiment, it's perfectly possible for the photon to pass through both of the slits. If you want to similarly expand your wavefunction to embrace all possibilities, that's fine with me.

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

It seems to me that, except in the few microscale physical phenomina that wcg mentioned, there are very few things in nature that are hard, defined walls with "this is this thing" on this side of the boundary and "this is the other thing" on the other side of the boundary. Such boundaries and definitions are created by human minds.

I mean, take something as obviously binary as "alive" and "dead." In our human minds, it seems easy to distinguish between "alive" things and "dead" things. But nature doesn't care about such binary distinctions, and has, for instance, viruses, which aren't quite alive but aren't quite dead, either.

[maedbh7.livejournal.com]

Following thoughts on what others have already said:

I'm inclined to believe there is *never* a true binary state in anything. Not even on the subatomic level. Reference that even in wcg's comments about that: " it is possible for an inherently unstable neutron to decay into a proton, an electron, and a neutrino." The very statement demands that these particles are inherently on a spectrum; possibly not a line spectrum but a field spectrum (2D vs 3D) That the reverse never occurs is irrelevant.

Likewise, xiphias' alive/dead example. When does life end? When the heart stops? When brainwaves cease? When your hair stops growing?

Some humans put boundaries between these states; but that is merely a human problem. Life and nature always affords more options than that. Hence, you might notice my user icon, the triskele. It's like YinYang and other binaries that require both to spin, but with the added obviousness of third options - Yin/Yang/Yao or something (not that the Chinese would ever put it that way :) -H....

[wolfshaman.livejournal.com]

Sounds a lot like me. I always tend to look for the balance point and it is usually in the middle.

I also seem to set on multiple mental and emotional states and depending on what is going on I can respond from any of them.

I found you through shadesong and thought I would friend you. :)

[wispfox.livejournal.com]

I found you through userinfoshadesong and thought I would friend you. :)

*waves* Welcome!