Contrast as Perception

If you lived in a world where everything was the exact same shade of blue, you would not even know what blue was! You can only see the shape of a tree because it is a different color than the sky behind it. Our brains are difference detectors. We notice when things change or when they are the opposite of what is nearby. This means that bad days actually give good days their flavor. Without the dark night, the sunrise would not be beautiful; it would just be normal.

Bad days give good days their flavor. Your nerves fire most intensely at the edge where one sensation ends and another begins. The border is where all the information lives. You are not the light or the dark. You are the border between them.

Perception is fundamentally differential. Neuronal firing triggered by gradients rather than absolute values — lateral inhibition. In epistemology, truth is understood by distance from error. The Everlasting We uses contrast to experience individuality within unity. By creating the other (Darkness), the self (Light) gains perspective to recognize its own existence. Contrast is a functional necessity for consciousness itself.

SOUND: A loud drum beat followed by total silence: difference is the message.

SMELL: Smelling a lemon after smelling coffee beans: contrast sharpens everything.

TASTE: Sweet honey followed by a sour lime.

TOUCH: Dipping a warm hand into cold water: the edge is where you feel most.

SIGHT: A bright white light in a pitch-black room.

BODY: Feeling light after taking off a heavy backpack: your body only knows lightness because it knew weight.

Music: Allison Road by Gin Blossoms

Music: Angel of 14th Street by Counting Crows

Music: Mandelbrot Set by Jonathan Coulton

Part of Light & Darkness — NATURE — Education Revelation