{"id":107,"date":"2011-07-04T13:19:00","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T13:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lidaprypchan.org\/?p=107"},"modified":"2015-07-19T21:34:49","modified_gmt":"2015-07-19T21:34:49","slug":"the-law-of-contradictions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lidaprypchan.org\/?p=107","title":{"rendered":"THE LAW OF CONTRADICTIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Lida Prypchan<\/b><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s another contradiction,\u201d thought Irene. \u00a0She had just graduated as an historian, and the sole conclusion she had reached in five years was that history contradicts itself time and time again. \u201cThe mere fact of studying history only to come to this sorry conclusion,\u201d she continued, somewhat dismayed, \u201cis a serious contradiction in itself. \u00a0To study how man\u2019s irrationality has changed the course of history and then to consider how society instills rational thoughts into us, is a crazy contradiction.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Half an hour later, she was laughing to herself.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the midst of her laughter, she discovered a new contradiction just as inexplicable as the previous ones. \u00a0To realize how absurd history is and then to laugh about it, is itself a contradiction. \u00a0She lit a cigarette and, lying back with her eyes closed, thought about her childhood, visualizing all the contradictions in adults, all the contradictions in life. \u00a0Finally she had arrived at a conclusion: \u201cLife is governed by one law \u2013 the law of contradictions.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the first place, there\u2019s birth. \u00a0Why do we human beings cry at the moment of birth, instead of laughing? \u00a0There are two possibilities: life or nothingness. \u00a0Nothingness means non-existence. \u00a0Its opposite is life. \u00a0Faced with these two possibilities, life is undoubtedly preferable. \u00a0You suffer, but you also have fun. \u00a0Life is not as wonderful as we make children believe, but neither is it as worthless as skeptics would have us think. \u00a0Life is a balance \u2013 or, rather, a struggle \u2013 between opposing forces: good and evil, beauty and ugliness, justice and injustice, love and hate. \u00a0Life is also a contradiction in itself; contradictions are needed in order to provide a balance.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the second place, there\u2019s the education of children. \u00a0There is a contradiction in the fact that it\u2019s easier to construct a building than to educate a child, that there are no universities to teach how to be a mother or father, but there are universities to teach how to be an engineer or lawyer. \u00a0Day after day we see the disastrous effects of a poor education and still we stand by and do nothing. \u00a0From this contradiction we can deduce another, perhaps a consequence of the first, concerning how we are taught to face life. \u00a0Life is presented to us through rose-colored spectacles \u2013 only kindness and beauty exist. \u00a0In no way are we allowed to behold the pulsing reality of the street. \u00a0Then suddenly, when we\u2019re grown up we see it as it is and we become disillusioned. \u00a0Our parents should educate us for life; by exposing us to all of life\u2019s positive and negative aspects, by teaching us to confront what is around us with discernment, not leave us feeling defenseless. \u00a0They should teach us what\u2019s important and what is not, that the only thing we possess is within ourselves and that we are not going to find it on the outside. \u00a0They should teach us that happiness, although fleeting, is a state of mind, not a lottery prize. \u00a0They should teach us to think along positive ways to achieve our goals. \u00a0They should teach us the advantages of being communicative and not encourage us to keep silent. \u00a0They should teach us to accept ourselves and show us not to fear who we really are.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the third place, when we are young we believe in everything and everyone. \u00a0When we grow old, we turn into skeptics. This is not only contradictory, but also futile, for what good does it do us when we\u2019re young to believe in everything, when we know nothing? \u00a0And what good does it do us when we\u2019re old to believe in nothing, when we know so much?<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the fourth place, when we finish high school at the tender age of eighteen and happen to have learnt how to add, but not how to multiply by seven or nine, we have to choose a career that will change the whole course of our lives \u2013 and if we can\u2019t make up our minds, we are turned out on the streets to look for a job because we can\u2019t answer questions about what we can do. \u00a0If that doesn\u2019t occur, we\u2019re taken to a psychologist to sort ourselves out and while we\u2019re there, they subject us to an eighty-hour test that tells whether we\u2019re any good at putting up with bad smells and viewing human beings as if they were numbers, or whether we have a propensity for lying, or the sills to construct buildings without foundations. But never will they tell us that we were born to be artists or philosophers.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the fifth place, universities are the repositories of the greatest contradictions. First of all, they are guided by political rather than educational motives. \u00a0Consequently, the decisions are made by politicians and not by scholars. Secondly, many professors complicate subject matter with their explanations, instead of clarifying it for the students. \u00a0On the other hand, sometimes the material presented during class appears very straightforward, but when exam time arrives, formulae and equations appear that you\u2019ve never come across before in your life. \u00a0Sometimes you come out of an exam sure that you failed, only to find out later that you did rather well \u2013 or vice versa. \u00a0Another big contradiction is student leadership \u2013 sometimes the worst students make the best leaders. \u00a0I almost omitted another very important contradiction: \u00a0multiple-choice tests. \u00a0For these, the answer you have to mark is the opposite of what you think. \u00a0I agree strongly with Oscar Wilde\u2019s saying that fools ask questions for which the wise man has no answer!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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In the sixth place: friendship. \u00a0Sometimes those you\u2019d like to have as friends are not, and vice versa. \u00a0Other times, when you value a friend very much, he doesn\u2019t greatly value you and then when you treat him with indifference, he pursues your friendship.<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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I\u2018m not even going to mention love, because love is an inexplicable force; and it would be a contradiction to say that love is a contradiction. \u00a0In all events, if it is a contradiction, I\u2019m all for it \u2013 here\u2019s to contradictions!<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 By Lida Prypchan \u00a0 \u201cThat\u2019s another contradiction,\u201d thought Irene. \u00a0She had just graduated as an historian, and the sole conclusion she had reached in five years was that history contradicts itself time and time again. \u201cThe mere fact of studying history only to come to this sorry conclusion,\u201d she continued, somewhat dismayed, \u201cis a … <\/p>\n

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