The cult of a bit
Summary of the doctrine of modern dualism
The cult of a bit
In our universe, everything is constantly, restlessly on the move, from the minutest particle all the way up to entire galaxies. This perpetual motion is a consequence of the struggle between two opposing cosmic forces, one of them like gravitation which seeks to bring things together, to construct, to build beings, and the other doggedly setting out to destroy, to separate, to tear asunder everything which is trying to do the former, which we can call expansion. These forces are complementary, neither can exist without the other, each of them seeks to dominate the other without ever really managing to do so. This reciprocal action taken by the two forces works its way into the tiniest corners of the vacuum which surrounds all things. The sum of all these motions is the energy which can either be focussed on a single point of minute dimensions, or else disperse into a limitless vacuum. We are living at a time when energy has been spreading and disseminating for almost 14 thousand million years. There will certainly be a phase of critical density in which everything will be distributed in the opposite direction towards the ultimate turning point. We can call this perpetual alternation, in which there will never be a winner or a loser, palingenesis or the eternal return.
In a phase of expansion starting from extreme primordial confinement, energy spreads leaving free spaces, degrees of freedom. Indeed, there is no continuous expansion, which would remove any opportunity for chance to manifest itself, because it would mean determinism and certainty about the future, which is not the case. The action of expansion thwarted by gravitation produces a fluctuating, pulsating density, allowing mistakes to slip through between the cracks, the holes of emptiness to be filled in randomly, and deviations in probabilities to manifest themselves around a deterministic average. This allows many possible ways of developing and creating different and increasingly complex beings which are thus more fragile and vulnerable to attacks by the destructive force. This justifies the death of the being and creates the ingredients for a birth. Thus everything is swaying between opposites such as love and hate, good fortune and misfortune, good and evil. All of these opposites become superimposed, intertwined and tangled up in one another whilst at the same time seeking rest, neutrality, the happy medium and bliss – although without ever finding them.
If we add up everything which acts, the result we get is zero. The forces of good and evil coexist against a background of non-existence, of vacuity. The absolute is stretched between the opposites which have only one desire, to meet, although they can never quite manage it, thus paving the way for this evolving cycle which is life, existence itself. We can only perceive differences which are due to the heaping up of opposites.
“A Yin aspect, a Yang aspect”, that’s what the Tao is all about. That is just the way things are, neither more nor less.
What do we have to do if we are not to fall victim to the forces of evil, succumbing to their implacable pressure? Dualism advocates that, in order to do this, we need to be measured in the exercising of the forces of good by reducing them, thus avoiding extreme exaltation. In order to be good, we need not only to reduce excesses, but also to make up for anything which is missing in such a way as to achieve a state which consists of hovering around the average, the haven of peace, the happy medium. We have to throw ourselves into the dip in the curve, which is a bell curve turned upside down. A perfect equilibrium is not desirable; that would remove all interest in existence, which always demands something new, something never experienced before. Existence is one thing which we cannot deny. It is the “dasein”, the being there, and it is unquestionable. We cannot say “I do not exist”. We might call this the “cult of a bit”. We are all capable of living in slow motion, in the neighbourhood of extinction (nirvana).
If the whole of humanity applied this precept, this would solve the problem of its survival which is under threat from excesses of all kinds.
According to Laozi “he who is happy with small things has nothing to fear”. We need to slip into the current which carries us along, avoiding turmoil. Detachment and moderation are the dualist’s cardinal virtues.
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