I’ve been thinking a lot about these concepts, especially since I have adopted a modified yin–yang symbol as my avatar on a couple of fora. In particular, I’ve mused over how to classify ideas and things in my life into this duality; it’s been an interesting exercise. It is by no means complete, but I offer a few of my observations for your amusement/consideration, and welcome any interested individuals to play along, either in the comments here or on one’s own blog. In the latter case, please drop a link here so we can find your thoughts.
In thinking about this, I have simplified the complex nature of the yin–yang relationship, but not so much that it should be read as “bad” and “good”. The perspective that spoke to me is “dark” and “light”. Also, my labels may seem simplistic or even repetitive in some ways; but to my mind, the distinctions I tried to draw with them hold some meaning to me. I’m particularly interested in dimensions others add.
Oh, one last thing: just because I list a particular school of thought or individual does not necessarily mean I have studied it extensively. This has been an ongoing stream of consciousness exercise, if that makes sense; my answers and categories would likely change within 10 minutes of posting this.
Philosophy:
Yin – Objectivism
Yang – Epicureanism; Stoicism
Food:
Yin – fish
Yang – pasta
Emotions:
Yin – jealousy
Yang – compassion
Music:
Yin – Alice in Chains; Rollins Band; Megadeth; Dream Theater
Yang – Rush; Warren Bluhm; Henry Mancini; Al Jarreau; The Association
Communication:
Yin – phone calls; email; online fora
Yang – in person; handwritten letters
Approach to life:
Yin – hyper–rationality
Yang – critical open–mindedness
Colors:
Yin – brown; green
Yang – yellow; red
Pain:
Yin – despair
Yang – loneliness
Activities:
Yin – dishes; laundry; parenting
Yang – gardening; reading; creating
Principles:
Yin – individualism
Yang – integrity
Thinkers:
Yin – Sigmund Freud; Ayn Rand; B.F. Skinner; Karl Marx
Yang – Tom Paine; Lao Tzu; Søren Kierkegaard
Values:
Yin – belonging; life; wealth
Yang – peace
Artists:
Yin – Andy Warhol; Georgia O’Keefe; Wassily Kandinsky
Yang – Vincent van Gogh; Salvador Dali; Paul Klee
Novelists:
Yin – Fyodor Dostoevsky; Margaret Atwood; F. Paul Wilson; Emily Brontë; Shaun Saunders
Yang – Charlotte Brontë; Robert Heinlein; Richard Bach
Flavors:
Yin – onion; pork; cumin
Yang – lemon; peppermint; basil; vanilla
Exploring Yin and Yang
The only one I could think of at the moment
Grocery bags:
Yin- plastic
Yang- paper
Intriguing Confusion
I like your list! But did you perhaps confuse the two? I've been thinking about these as yang = bright or rational (Apollonian) and yin = dusky or mysterious (Dionysian). For instance I would see Objectivism as yang and Epicureanism and especially Taoism as yin.
For instance, Wikipedia says:
As to flavors, I usually see them divided into four categories: sweet, sour, salty, and bitter. (Sometimes "spicy" or "hot" replaces "bitter" in the list.)
More thoughts to follow...
No; simpler.
My thinking with respect to my list is a good deal simpler than the Wikipedia excerpt you included—and which I read before commencing, to try to make sure I had my mind straight on them. I did not think in terms of rational vs. mysterious, for example—just in terms of personal light and dark.
Written like a true psychologist! I wanted to stay away from those categories, in part because they’re enormously limiting, and in part because I do not respond to flavors along those lines. I don’t think I have synesthesia, but that concept comes close to capturing how I think about and try to work with flavors—or maybe a better analogy is the color wheel.
Light and Dark...
... as in maple syrup or brown sugar, perhaps? :)
These are slippery concepts (or clusters of concepts), which is why I haven't blogged about them yet. The clusters I see are that the yang describes things that are more objective, public, well-known, well-lit, bright, overtly rational, explicit, lucid, clear, hard, dry, and if you want to get Jungian or even Homeric about it things related to the sky gods -- whereas yin describes things that are more subjective, personal or private, unknown (not necessarily unknowable!), a bit shadowy or dark or dusky or crepuscular, emotional, implicit or tacit, opaque, soft, wet and watery, earthy, things related to the gods of earth and water.
Notice the "more" in there. I don't claim that these clusters of concepts are either-or or anything-but. In Chinese philosophy there is (in my experience) an emphasis on unity in diversity, the harmony of opposites, a balance of forces and qualities. So let's say that one were to combine Objectivism and Taoism, or Aristotle and Thoreau, or Bach and Chopin, or objectivity and individuality, or a bright flavor like lemon with an earthy flavor like olive oil, and so on. Such combinations can be extremely interesting and fulfilling (albeit challenging at times to balance well). Yes, these are merely indicators or signs pointing in interesting directions, not the whole truth (which perhaps is closer to the color wheel than a duality).
Anyway, that's some food for thought.
(But BTW I still think you have "yin" and "yang" exactly reversed in your post -- Ayn Rand is prototypical yang to me, whereas Lao Tzu is prototypical yin.)
You seem to still be overthinking my mental meanderings.
Slippery, sugary concepts indeed, Saint! Enticing to think about, but once one starts talking about them, interesting things ensue.
I grok that, based on what you’ve written here. At the risk of giving away how thoroughly simple–minded my exercise was, I’ll elaborate on that one.
In my unidimensional dark–light (yin–yang) scale, Objectivism is dark because of the danger I sensed—yet still fell into—within its framework. As for why I see Lao Tzu as light, I think the quotes I shared here some time ago speak for themselves. The contemplative, naturalistic nature of the philosophy—the little I’ve read of it, anyway—appeals to me deeply.
Aha!
Aha, I see where you're coming from. To my mind, Rand was attempting to formulate a bright, rational, hard-edged, shadowless, almost-artificial philosophy of objective reality -- thus I classify her as a yang thinker. You sense (and have personally experienced) the problems inherent in such an approach, so you classify her as a dangerously dark yin thinker. By contrast, you have warm, happy feelings about what I would call Lao Tzu's gnomic, aphoristic, opaque insights into the mysteries of life, so you classify him as a yin thinker. Thus you have a yinny, personalistic take on these philosophers, whereas I have a yangy, intellectualistic take on them. Grok that? Phew! :)
As to overthinking, it comes with the territory -- I studied philosophy way back in college, after all. ;)
Oh, and...
Lest you think that I disparage Lao Tzu or what I describe as your yinny take on these thinkers, let me add that I have been working for years to find a harmonious balance in my own life and thought between Rand and Lao Tzu, Aristotle and Epicurus, Spinoza and Thoreau, reason and emotion, the explicit and the tacit, the artificial and the natural, the objective and the personal, the well-lit and the hard-to-grasp, the hard sciences and the soft humanities, the sciences and the arts, the logical and the emotional, and on and on. In each of those pairs I would say the first is yangy and the second is yinny, but both aspects are deeply important in life (no dualist, I!).
Thirsty yet?
It isn’t quite that simplistic—I owe a lot to Rand’s philosophy. I think I would put it this way: some of her ideas brought out the worst in me.
And it goes without saying, I should hope, that neither pork nor green bring out the worst in me.
Down with binary!
Yin/yang is so dualistic.
Hexism is a religion my wife invented for a sciencefictionish book she wrote.
Just trying to add a little derangement to your day. :-)
Dualism
Sure, it's dualistic, but it's evocative nonetheless.
Remember, there are only two kinds of people in the world: those who think there are two kinds of people in the world, and those who don't. ;-)
Book?
Based on what you shared, I wanna read it! Is that possible?
Oh, and thank you for the derangement. I do appreciate it. For reals true.
Good to see
Good to see Salvador and Charlotte, Robert and Richard where my intuition placed them (Yang).
Currently reading Heinlein's 'Friday' :-)
About that Saunders fellow...
(yes, he does write some pretty dark stuff, I'm told, sometimes wrapping it in glitzy paper...)
Whew!
It’s reassuring to see someone else whose thinking I respect understands what I was on about. And regarding that Saunders fellow and his placement, it should be clear that there can be much value in the dark.
Fear not!
Fear not, my snaky conspirator friend... as Mark Twain once said, "Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect" and you've some ways to go before that is an issue :-)
Now, where would Twain fit into your Yin and Yang???
Oh, that one’s easy.
Anyone who made the observations he did about politicians and government has to be yang. :)
mmm
I must say, though, that while Twain was often (or usually) promoted as a humorist, there was often a substantial amount of satire underlying that. His views of his fellow humans were really quite bleak. I'm not saying that I disagree with your assessment, mind you, only offering up this snippet for further thought.
Bleak perspectives
Thanks, Shaun. Sometimes a bleak perspective seems the only sane one, no?
:-)
I'm sure that Saunders fellow in your author list would agree :-)
I've been thinking
I've been thinking (struggling?) recently with thoughts and feelings that might relate to your placement of individualism as yin, integrity as yang.
yin - as an individual, I don't have collective responsibility for what the government does in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, or wherever ... yang - I feel a compulsion/responsiblity to criticize the US govt in particular for dropping bombs on villages and funeral processions ... I've been rather caught up in that lately.
I hope this isn't mushy anti-intellectual thinking (i.e. feeling and thinking you're thinking). Ever since NonE dropped in with his suggestion that we don't have a right to life, I've been mulling over the reality that while I can't prove to myself that there's a right to life, there's something in me that feels driven to defend such a right.
So at this moment, for me, it's an insoluble, and I'm thinking of those two sides as both part of the reality of being human.
Nice to see ...
... that you aren’t afraid to use the “R” word when talking here. Right to life is a particularly difficult one for me, because in some ways it’s the ultimate positive right ... yet the individual didn’t exist in a form we’d recognize, or that is capable of consenting (or not) to its creation. But most of us come to cherish our lives and work hard to maintain them. And, in most cases, another individual is not justified in cutting it short—especially without one’s consent. That’s my way of framing it absent the concept of rights, for whatever it might be worth ...
Ah, but feeling is thinking! At least to my mind it is. That said, I think I understand what you’re saying; for me, no, it isn’t anti-intellectual.
Oh, and I very much like your take on that yin–yang.
I'm with Mr. Bill
Down with binary!
I am also with Sunni, where is the book? Who is Mr. Bill's wife?
Yin and Yang get very fuzzy around the edges, which is where all the interesting cases are. This seems like the same type of exercise I went through trying to determine where one draws the line when using resources claimed by the state, such as roads.
Ellen has reminded me that I must do a post on Rights. Soon, I promise.
I'd love to read that, Jorge!
I'd love to read that, Jorge!
Mr. Bill's wife is: awesome.
Mr. Bill's wife is: awesome. And she already has one book out. The one he quoted is a new one, which has not yet been offered to us. I'd better not give out a link for her, because I'd rather wait for Mr. Bill to ask her permission first. But in the meantime, just know that she is most definitely awesome. And her writing is sorta yin, according to how I understand Sunni's "personal" qualifications.
I love yin things. :)
Regarding the Awesome One
Yup. :-)
I was going to post a link to her book that I quoted, but I discovered that the HTML which looked okay in whatever browser we were using a decade ago is hopelessly messed up in modern browsers. So I've gotta do some fixing before I link.
In the meanwhile (not to turn this into a fanclub for my wife, but...) her more recent novel is available here.
For me...
Colors:
Yin: red; black
Yang: blue; yellow
Crafts:
Yin: steampunk
Yang: baby blankets
Mundanity:
Yin: Driving
Yang: Walking the dog
Food:
Yin: Steak
Yang: Seafood
Creation (on a personal level):
Yin: Stained Glass; playing the piano; creative writing
Yang: playing the guitar; making/hanging yule decorations
Drink:
Yin: Alcohol
Yang: Water
Fiction Authors:
Yin: Victor Hugo
Yang: Lewis Carroll
A shot of yin
Crafts:
Yin: steampunk
Wolfie is only the second person I know that knows what steampunk is. Rosie is very into steampunk and she had to school me on what the term means. I still have a somewhat ambiguous understanding of it. I'm interested to hear your definition of it.
Sunni, my friend, I owe you an email and I need to post photos of my lacework project. After frogging for the *eighth* time, after figuring out the major error in the pattern at frog #5(another whole story), I changed from size 7 straight needles to size 6 circulars. That little change made a whole world of difference! The knitting is still slow going--- I talk to myself the whole row =): k2t, yo, (k2, ssk, yo)to the last stitch, k1. And then it changes, a whole new chant for each row for 8 rows.
Here's a bit of my thought on yin and yang:
Are we too often mired in absolute stasis? .
I love steampunk
Steampunk is awesome. It's like the essence of Victorian England meets Bladerunner. :D That's my take on it. There's just something very dark, and dangerous about steampunk that absolutely fascinates me.
lewlew, my friend, are you on ravelry? Look for me there under the 'nym "Sister Wolf". I would love to add you to my friends list!
Thanks for your definition
And the links everyone shared! Very cool sites. Your definition fits very well with how Rosie explained it.
For her birthday I purchased a locket from an Etsy vendor whose work is very steampunk-like. If I remember, her shop is called Birds N Beez. I'll ask Rosie. Anyhow, the locket is a book-like Victorian inspired locket with old watch works adhered to the top of the locket. She loves it. I like the loops and fasteners the vendor uses, too. They add to the steampunk feel.
Steampunk
I only learned about Steampunk a few weeks ago. Saw a TV special about creative recycling and alternate uses of tech items which had a segment featuring this guy's creations.
I was excited by it in terms of the design aesthetics. Once I get my workshop back up and running - I'll probably play around with some of the ideas.
Sunni - you might enjoy the Victorian RV as converted from a schoolbus. From the pics I'm not seeing exactly Victorian design - but it's still a look that's easy on the eye.
There's other projects featured on the sidebars of the webpage I linked above that give a bit of an idea of the style and creativity involved in steampunk design - like the computer monitor and keyboard modifications.
I can't speak much about other aspects of Steampunk - but the approach to design and modification seem like a lot of fun to me.
Thanks!!!
Great Link!
I love this stuff! I found a link a year ago to some similar material (i.e., guy creating steampunk items, merging old furniture etc with new tech) with keyboards and steampunk laptop housings for sale etc, but can't find it at the moment. I'll keep looking and post here if I'm successful :-)
If you have any other links, they would be very much appreciated!
More Links, you ask?
Here:
Datamancer
Brass Goggles
Those are my two favorites, but my hubby sends me new ones all the time. I'll find more for you later, but they won't be as good as datamancer, or brass goggles.
Thanks!
Thanks for those links, Wolfie - 'Datamancer' one was the one I found (and lost) last year. Have forwarded it on to a friend as well.
Cheers :-)