On Light and Darkness

[Rilvor]

Rather than cast a shadow on the Pictures thread, I thought I would prefer to continue this in its own thread given that I fully intend to offer some thoughts others may wish to discuss.

Firstly, let us say that neither light nor darkness are necessarily better than the other in any means that is not purely preference.


There seems to be an obsession with modern humans in shining light in every possible direction imaginable. The darkness is to be chased off wherever it may creep in. Dark corners are to be thought of as repulsive, fearsome. Now as anyone who has ever thought to look at the stars, those glimpses of hopeful light in such a great envelope of darkness, knows we have a term for this. It is called light pollution. I put forth the idea that this is the situation modern society has become ensconced in.

I do not think this is healthy. A brief look at history will illuminate (haha) what I am talking about, and we can see the pollution of our minds becoming ever brighter in the way society demands we think and express. Don't talk about those things, it's not right. Don't be depressed, or we'll give you pills and a lobotomy. Not even merely grim subjects, but anything at all that may be "unhappy", "negative", or "too heavy".

Yet if one steps outside of the glare, one might begin to realize a few things. The natural darkness can have subtleties. Night is not the extinguishing of light, it is the embrace of our own Earth's shadow. The universe we live in is infinite in its complexities and while it is also infinite darkness there mingles countless beacons of unimaginable light. It is in the night sky that we can understand and appreciate life.

The more one denies the darkness, the less of that sky one can see.

[Hewge]

I embrace darkness every now and then. But I find that whenever I do, I always walk into things or stub my toes :v

[Butterflygoddess]

I've always associated darkness with creativity and imagination and light with logic and a search for truth. Both are great by themselves, but too great a focus on either is to be out of balance.

I have a book idea where this is a core theme.

Love this thread idea btw, Rilvor. Throwing away negativity and strife does create a comfortable lifestyle, but its rather shiftless and without purpose if we embrace "light pollution".

[Eagle GodHeart]

me ive always seen darkness as somthing that used to be of light but became twisted and distorted. i mean i always try to walk in thelight but remember just because society says somthing is good doesnt make it so.

[Vae]

me ive always seen darkness as somthing that used to be of light but became twisted and distorted.

It's actually kind of the opposite, if you want to talk physical properties, which we seem to be doing in this thread in part.

The default state of things is dark. Light is only generated by specific chemical reactions.

Also, many of the moral values we associate with "light" weren't really such a standard until humanity came along. A lot of values associated with "darkness", in turn, are animalistic and marked by lack of inhibition.
Which is something that existed in nature long before we used these standards to create order and security in society.

Not saying one is better or worse than the other.
I think they both have their pros and cons.
But light is very much something that intrudes on the pre-existing dark. Not the other way around. You have to have a light source to illuminate a dark room. Darkness has to generate nothing on its own to exist.
And most organisms will try to eat and kill you, if they're able, without prior domestication or manipulation. That's their default state. Their instinct.

The darkness has always been here, but the light changes it.

[Zeitzbach]

I find light to be extremely dangerous because I saw a dude getting hit by a double malygos holy nova.

The light really burned in that one.

[Rilvor]

I've always associated darkness with creativity and imagination and light with logic and a search for truth. Both are great by themselves, but too great a focus on either is to be out of balance.

I have a book idea where this is a core theme.

Love this thread idea btw, Rilvor. Throwing away negativity and strife does create a comfortable lifestyle, but its rather shiftless and without purpose if we embrace "light pollution".

Indeed, there must always be balance. We have understood this since ancient history, from the Druids to the ancient Egyptians and more. It seems to me that we've lost our way on that point.

I don't think that it creates a "comfortable" lifestyle, Butterfly. You saying that implies by its wording that one cannot live a comfortable life in spite of negativity's presence. I would say that it creates a distorted...or perhaps polluted lifestyle. Not to mention shiftless and without purpose, as you said! One worse, it would also be worthless.

me ive always seen darkness as somthing that used to be of light but became twisted and distorted. i mean i always try to walk in thelight but remember just because society says somthing is good doesnt make it so.

That is perhaps a more...fantastical way of looking at things I suppose. That's all I wish to say.

It's actually kind of the opposite, if you want to talk physical properties, which we seem to be doing in this thread in part.

The default state of things is dark. Light is only generated by specific chemical reactions.

Also, many of the moral values we associate with "light" weren't really such a standard until humanity came along. A lot of values associated with "darkness", in turn, are animalistic and marked by lack of inhibition.
Which is something that existed in nature long before we used these standards to create order and security in society.

Not saying one is better or worse than the other.
I think they both have their pros and cons.
But light is very much something that intrudes on the pre-existing dark. Not the other way around. You have to have a light source to illuminate a dark room. Darkness has to generate nothing on its own to exist.
And most organisms will try to eat and kill you, if they're able, without prior domestication or manipulation. That's their default state. Their instinct.

The darkness has always been here, but the light changes it.

An excellent post! I personally attribute more nuanced and subtle things in both, but you are certainly right about those aspects as well.

But I suppose if we were going to talk about more physical matters as well, here's another way of looking at it:

Light travels infinitely and at its own speed, and thus time has no meaning to it. There will never be a specific moment in time for light. It may as well not even exist, were it not for outside observers.

Dark is everything else and all of the without, equally as infinite. It has no speed, for it is not truly a physical thing.

It is between the two that we find reality as we understand it.

[Butterflygoddess]

I don't think that it creates a "comfortable" lifestyle, Butterfly. You saying that implies by its wording that one cannot live a comfortable life in spite of negativity's presence. I would say that it creates a distorted...or perhaps polluted lifestyle. Not to mention shiftless and without purpose, as you said! One worse, it would also be worthless.

Truly? Perhaps it would have been wiser for me to say "more comfortable". I think we as humans are always struggling to find ways to make our situations better and easier. Advancements in technology and medicine I think are some great examples of this.

It's nice to think we as human being would accept "darkness/negativity" but I must say I think most of us still shun it to this day. After all, if you or a loved one got cancer would you bathe in that dark moment? I rather think not. And I'll be honest, the dark negativity of homophobia is something that has recently gotten really, really down of late. So I do yearn for that comforting light/positivism.

I suppose the only ones who truly accept darkness are monks who seclude themselves and deny themselves the physical happiness of this world. (Or have I gone a bit overboard with the light=positive dark=negative metaphor? XD)

[piñardilla]

When I'm at home, I rarely bother to turn on any lights unless I'm working on something. I effectively get around like a blind man at night, I know where everything is so I don't need to see.

[Rilvor]

@ Butterfly: You do seem to be thinking of it in extremes, I think.

Edit: Basically, I'm getting at like people need a little salt and a little pepper. I'm not advocating pouring vinegar all over your dinner, you know?

One does not bathe in the suffering of others, I'm a bit disappointed you'd come up with that. One could however, appreciate the life of others in such a moment. This is understanding darkness in life, you know what I mean?

When I'm at home, I rarely bother to turn on any lights unless I'm working on something. I effectively get around like a blind man at night, I know where everything is so I don't need to see.

Just enough lights to avoid eyestrain is the right way to go.

Also my Firefox wants to fix your name to Dillard.