The Universe Contradicts Itself, So Should You
The not-so-secret magic in contradicting yourself.
Contradiction is Everywhere
“Oxymoron: Noun: A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.”
- Living Dead
- Silent Scream
- Jumbo Shrimp
- Pretty Ugly
- Same Difference
Contradictions are everywhere. Humans actually really seem to enjoy them until we see it displayed in ourselves or others. Suddenly, if actions don’t necessarily line up with what someone has said or done before, we tend to clam up and start questioning things. The same is true if we catch ourselves doing something we wouldn’t think we were capable of doing.
Inherently, this questioning is good. We must question what doesn’t make sense so that we can begin to understand them or be aware of potential danger. This latter reason is why when we see a character contradiction, we tend to freeze up. Our brains my sound the alarm that there’s a LIAR! The true problem arises when one doesn’t voice those concerns. Maybe that individual didn’t even realize that what they just did directly contradicts something they have expressed belief in. By calling them out, you’ll either be informing them in a way that could actually empower them to make a change, or maybe you really do find out that they are a dick.
When we find ourselves in contradiction, it’s easy for us to freeze or become defensive. At least once, you’ve found yourself in the middle of an argument and realized that you were in the wrong, and you’ve thought about continuing to argue anyway purely so you wouldn’t have to admit you’re wrong. But there’s nothing wrong with admitting that you were wrong; in fact, it’s one of the best things that we can be. (As long as you can let go of your ego and pride.)
Contradicting yourself means you are alive and learning, don’t hesitate to do so.
“In formal logic, a contradiction is the signal of a defeat; but in the evolution of real knowledge it marks the first in progress towards victory.”
— Alfred North Whitehead
In seeing that we are wrong, we have two ways to address it. To get mad at ourselves or other people, becoming defensive. Or, we can use it as a lesson and create a change in our behavior or way of thinking that better aligns with our higher selves. Catching yourself in a contradiction is a great way to break through some of the old ways of thinkings that you may have.
It’s a great way to find a limitation that we have and break it down so we can pick up the pieces that still work with our beliefs and leave behind the ones that don’t.
If you feel like a failure, then contradict that!
“One is fruitful only at the cost of being rich in contradictions.”
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Contradictions work both ways. It doesn’t just work in going from being right to admitting you were actually wrong. You can go from being a failure to having a win. It’s all the way that you frame it in your mind.
Just like contradictions mean that you are alive and learning, failure is a chance to redo something and try again. It means you can take what you’ve experienced and better prepare for the future you are creating for yourself. Take the attempt as a success even if the outcome was a failure. Showing up and trying is definitely a win and shouldn’t’ be discredited just because it didn’t result in what you may have hoped for.
Arguably, the only way to remain successful in life is to continue making mistakes, failing, and learning from those circumstances and turning them into fuel for the next day. If you fail and don’t try again, then you remain a failure. If your team won a soccer game back in middle school, but you haven’t tried again, how successful a soccer player are you?
Perhaps we are afraid to be in contradiction because it makes us stand out, and we have to admit to ourselves we were wrong. Maybe it's the shame that can sometimes come along with the contradiction. Either way, if we take away the taboo and allow for people to be wrong and to learn from their mistakes instead of casting them out for them, we can foster a culture where being in contradiction is a beautiful disaster.
Nature Contradicts Itself — Always
“It is not that I love contradictions: life is contradictory. Existence itself is possible only through contradictions.”
— Osho
Humans aren’t the only ones that contradict themselves. Animals do, and so do the laws of the Universe.
There’s the old saying about an animal that bites the hand that feeds it. It needs to eat, it knows this, but sometimes they have to stand up for themselves. Other animals, like the possum or some lizards, play dead to stay alive. There’s nothing truly wrong with these actions, and we can justify why that organism would want to do that — except for maybe the plant that gets too much water and dies. But we don’t question or belittle them.
Duality is a characteristic of nature that is so ingrained that we forget it's there; life and death, dark and light, density and scarcity, hot and cold. These contradictions must live side by side for all of life to exist.
Quantum physics is such a marvelous theory until you start looking at things infinitesimally small and infinitely large. Those spooky quarks don’t make much sense when we think of some of the traditional ways of thinking (until you introduce consciousness), but blackholes also don’t make any sense when it comes to some of our other theories like gravity and conservation of mass.
When we look at these things, we don’t turn back to science and throw everything out. We sit back, look at the magic, and contemplate what it all means. We learn from these observations so that we can empower our theories and the way that we live.
“Contradiction is the lever of transcendence.”
— Simone Wild
I want to leave you with this last quote. We may feel defeated and pushed down when we find ourselves wrong, but it’s a time to rise — a contradiction in itself.
I also want to leave you with this thought. Without contradiction, would we be able to find humor in the little things? If we heard knocking in the middle of the night, the sound causing us to question which deathly ghoul we could’ve pissed off, and realized it was only the stupid ice-maker, would we still be able to laugh it off in the way that we do?
