History: Opposites And Contraries

Source of version: 1 (current)

Opposites & Contraries. The distinction between opposites (''da de dukti'') & contraries (''da de vlina''), traceable to William Blake (if not earlier), can be discerned in Lojban in a shadowy way. Simply put, opposites undo each other ("hot"-to-"cold") while contraries form two parts of a whole ("left" or "right"). The metaphors of ((binary thinking)) tend not to take cognizance of this distinction, which is essential to clear reasoning. ''But which of these two classes the pair fits into depends on perspective; someone could just as rightly claim that "left" and "right" cancel each other out, as direcions, and "hot" and "cold" are the two ends of the heat spectrum, making them parts of a whole. Thus the distinction is arbitrary, not absolute. It's akin to the physical phenomenon of energy sometimes being thought of as a particle and other times as a wave; neither type is actually distinguishable in nature, they are only different ways to envision the same concept.'' How does ''vlina'' enter into any of this? Was ''da de te vlina'' meant? Isn't ''vlina'' about propositions? --((xorxes)) ---- ''Which are these meant to be -- opposites or contraries? Most fit neither description above: neither cancelling out (to lukewarm?) nor being parts of some discernable whole.'' ----------- cmalu barda nanmu ninmu nanla nixli xlali xamgu ruble tsali mutce milxe jetnu jitfa pritu zunle fatci cfika birka tuple xance jamfu preti danfu nandu frili balvi purci nenri bartu jmive morsi masno sutra gusni manku tordu clani sampu pluja xekri blabi zmadu mleca cnita gapru sipna cikna donri nicte cerni vanci jmina vimcu ricfu pindi cnino slabu jibni darno bebna prije vensa critu dunra crisa clira lerci carmi kandi berti snanu stuna stici crane trixe bersa tixnu mensi bruna tilju linto glare lenku sudga cilmo kanro bilma tcadu nurma slami jilka danlu spati smaji cladu caxno condi ganlo kalri dizlo galtu loldi drudi ganra jarki rotsu cinla palci vrude tisna kunti frica dunli drata mintu zabna mabla fliba snada gubni sivni rarna rutni junri xalbo gunta bandu xendo kusru racli fenki ---- __Dubious cases__ cirko facki (cpacu) jdari ranti sepli kansa (jorne) krasi fanmo drani srera cnici kalsa kukte kurki