“A fox knows many things, but a hedgehog knows one big thing” – Isaiah Berlin
If we look back toward the beginning of the universe, we can see the fragile nature of existence.
If events unfolded differently, life would not exist.
Particles and anti-particles, or matter and anti-matter, were residues of the energy created by the heat of the Big Bang. As the universe cooled, the particles and antiparticles destroyed one another in pairs. If the amounts of matter and antimatter had been equal, everything would be annihilated, and there would be no life in the universe. There wouldn’t be anything.
There had to be an initial asymmetry, more matter than antimatter, so that after the universe cooled, there would be stars left over.
Thus, the universe exists because of a basic dichotomy, between matter and antimatter.
But what if everything had this dual character? What if brains, morality, nature, information, perception, and thought all exist due to a fundamental division or dichotomy?
What if our grand theories about human nature are informed by the dichotomous nature of our brains?
What if the grand theories themselves describe human psychology and behavior as the tension between opposites?
In The Dichotomy of the Self, I explore what has been termed as “the coincidence of opposites” – the ways in which dualities manifest in nature and in our lives.
For each discovery, there is a discoverer. Throughout the book, I will go through the ideas of all the great discovers of our time. You will learn how these ideas can explain the persistent existence of conflict, rigidity, blindness, narcissism, polarization, short-sightedness, stupidity, and naivety.