On the True Nature of Binaries

So then, why do we cling so tightly to the binary as an ordering principal for reality, or for reality as our species experiences it? The construction of male and female seems merely incidental to a more pervasive system that includes but is not necessarily limited to:

Good/Evil

Right/Wrong

God/Devil

Order/Chaos – This one is at the root of it all I think.

We build binary systems so as to artificially constrain the possible range of explanations/actions for the forces/agencies acting to shape the destiny of humanity.

For instance, if we posit our universe as existing between the opposing forces of Judgment and Mercy (as does the Judeo-Christian mythic tradition) then, as we ascribe to the myth, our precarious existence within that delicately balanced binary system can be hoped for, if not reasonably assured, or as reasonably assured as our wishful thinking ever allows. Assuming of course that we comport ourselves to the dictates (mostly unspoken - but clearly articulated) of the mythic tradition. Moreover, children the moral is? Behave yourself - and you'll get to be a believer too.

On the other hand, if reality is ordered thus:

There exists no duality – there is no balance – no oppositional forces held in check by a extra-cosmic prime mover. The universe is a cold, capricious, indifferent and . . . wondrous void. Balance exists only (and fleetingly) as the interaction of matter and energy in Space/Time which itself conforms (more or less) to the laws of Newtonian and Quantum Physics (and whatever additional principals of physics and cosmology that we might happen to stumble upon).


So some exist within a binary that has subsumed their thought processes (the price of admission) to mandate that they determine, in every experienced or perceived thought, the linear exigencies of right and wrong so as to remain in good standing with the binary system in which they exist (and are enslaved to). Because to do otherwise is to allow the possibility of subversion by ambiguity – and the freedom of the spirit that perforce comes with it.

First, we must allow that the choice of ambiguity is a valid one and that the moment (and its infinite possibilities) is the only certainty to which we can reasonably lay claim.

But you hate ambiguity and uncertainty, don't you? Like you hate everything else that you don't understand? Think you your lives so precious that you would make this life a living hell so as to spare you the fear of passage into the next, or the mere speculation on its existence.

Of what do you fear? What is it that awaits you out there?


TED
... life is unspeakably rare. So
whenever we do find another
civilization, especially one
that's... struggling... We send a
message. Sometimes we can offer
help. Sometimes we can't. But we
always try. Life is simply too
precious not to.

ELLIE
Can you help us?

Ted hesitates. They are now standing in the middle of a
vast alien desert, stretching to the horizon. The dome of
the sky darkens revealing a view from outside the galaxy;
the Milky Way hangs like a pinwheel in the blackness of
intergalactic night.

TED
You're an interesting species; an
interesting mix. Capable of such
exquisite dreams; such horrifying
nightmares. Technologically you've
advanced very quickly -- some think
too quickly... and yet...

CLOSE ON TED

He turns to Ellie, puts a loving hand to her face.
Softly:

TED
You're so lost. So cut off... and
so sad.


We are alone. For millions of years
we've searched the cosmos... and
after all the suffering, after all
the chaos and desolation of the void
-- the one thing we've found that
makes the emptiness bearable is each
other.

That's why I sent the
message.


That's why I made contact . . .





by Menno Meyjes, Ann Druyan & Carl Sagan, Michael Goldenberg, Jim V. Hart.
Rewrite by Michael Goldenberg.
Based on the Novel by Carl Sagan.
September 8, 1995.



© 2009 Renée Thomas all rights reserved