The Little Purple Notebook On How To Escape From This Universe
Copyleft � 1998 by Maximilian J. Sandor, Ph.D.
Subscription Information: Maria Loren
[email protected]
Website:
http://transmillennium.net/pnohteftu/
Negations, Opposites, and Complements
What is "not white"?
For a lot of people it is "black"!
For others it may be any color that is 'not white'.
For the rest of us it means ALL colors that are 'not white'.
The latter is called a complement, because it completes the set of all
colors together with the item in question (in this case 'white').
Of course, we could see 'not white' also as an unspecified negation
of a statement. This way is called 'reflexive' because it refers
to the statement itself.
Current human languages do not adequately distinguish between an 'opposite'
and a 'complement' and plain (reflexive) negations. Yet, the difference
between them can make all the difference.
A lot of flame wars and endless but fruitless discussions are generated
every day, right now as you read this, because people cannot or don't want
to make these distinctions.
Using complements is very useful in cases in which one wants to avoid an
'identification'. And since avoiding 'identifications' seems like a good
idea in all cases, using complements often is a smart move.
For example, most, if not all, basic premises used in Gotamo's philosophy
are formulated as 'complements', most notably, of course, the anatta
('non-'self) concept and the dukkha ('in-' sanity/case) concept.
The reason for him to use complements is not only to prevent an
identification with a mere word instead of grasping the concept, but also
to find in an indirect way a verbal description for things for which there
cannot be words.
The majority of translators from Pali either don't understand this or don't
care for it for whatever reasons. In the 'Little Purple Notebook On How To
Escape From This Universe', the difference is being made as often and as
clear as possible.
Now, on the other hand, one may want to specify an opposite to a given
thing and it will be necessary to avoid an overbroad specification. This
becomes important in every process that uses opposing terminals such as
'standard' GPM (Goals/Problems/Mass), Time-Breaking Level IV (TROM), or
fidgeting with intention beams like in chapter 42113.Why 'Letting Go' Can
Be Bungee Cord And The Secret Behind Blow-Out Jobs.
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Copyleft � 1998 by Maximilian J. Sandor, Ph.D.
