We live in the tension of opposites throughout the stages of our lives. A child experiences the opposite by having a passionate mother and strict father. We experience having a colleague who shows empathy with another lacking it completely.
The angel and the devil present together.
Somebody trusts you with another showing no trust in you.
Feeling happy and have tears flowing at the same time.
It is like a candle- burning and melting simultaneously.
Opposites spin in different directions. Can this be good for the health of our minds and hearts?
The Spinning Metaphor
If you care to watch the fantastic video below, you shall observe two opposite results.
The video shows that liquid oxygen generates paramagnetism. This means it has unpaired electrons (spin in one direction) which align when placed in a magnetic field and oxygen becomes magnetized. Electrons do not only orbit around the nucleus, they also spin. Thus, they create a magnetic field. Unpaired electrons spin in the same direction as each other, which increases the magnetic field effect. Liquid nitrogen lacks unpaired electrons and so does not gain any magnetism
When electrons pair they spin in opposite directions and loses their magnetic property. This sounds as if spinning in one direction is the sought property if we seek alignment.
However, wait. Unpaired electrons are also ready to bond with other unpaired electrons. Once these electrons bond, they become unpaired. We cannot have both properties- magnetism and bonding together. The presence of one excludes the other.
What do we need from living in a world filled with opposites? Do we need to align to produce a collective force similar to the magnetic force? Or, do we want to bond and sacrifice our magnetism?
Groupthink is similar to electrons spinning in the same direction. All attendees align with the external influence and create their magnetic attraction. However, hold on. As soon as the external influence is removed, the group loses its magnetism as liquid oxygen does. It is a temporary effect.
When we have opposite ideas spinning in opposite directions they bond. The creative tension is energized enough to make the two opposite ideas bond and for a new material to emerge.
Next time when you have extroverts and introverts in your time be creative enough to make them bond together. If all the team members spin in the same direction (all extroverts or introverts) no bonding shall happen.
In the diversity of spinning opposite ideas, we find our greatest opportunities to show our creativity.
A remarkable, thought-provoking and inspirational topic. As always, you provide incredible insights to get us to think. I just want to add a brief comment based on the experience.
Each employee has his own character and should feel comfortable regardless of his personal characteristics. For their part, managers should try to understand who they are facing and act accordingly. It may appear of particular interest, for example, to understand if a worker is introverted or, on the contrary, extroverted, because depending on the characteristics, different things can be achieved and one must interact accordingly.
He must exploit opposing and in some ways almost incompatible elements to maintain a state of constant creative tension: old and new, exploration and efficiency, discipline and experimentation.
I believe that the real added value is mutual and active listening; listening to the ideas of others also improves our own and a virtuous circle is created for which what we have to say is continually improved and re-evaluated by the energy of collective intelligence, as well as being a cue that makes those who listen to us turn on other bulbs.
A truly remarkable and very mature comment , Aldo.nnect them.
I believe that the central idea of your comment is “…because depending on the characteristics, different things can be achieved and one must interact accordingly.”
This is the wise leader and what he/she can do. Instead of looking at differences negatively the manager/leader should see the hidden strength in the differences and find a bridge to bond them. If the attitude to differences is negative then these differences shall stayas a hurdle when they could be a great source for creativity.
Positive diversity sticks around like the oxygen. Except? With diversity, positivity fuels itself.
The external influence becomes the environment itself.
blessings,
Cynthia
The external influence becomes the environment itself. This is very wise, Cynthia. Thank you for this lovely comment.
“When we have opposite ideas spinning in opposite directions they bond. The creative tension is energized enough to make the two opposite ideas bond and for a new material to emerge.” A dynamic positive statement Dr Ali …
Best thoughts on Pairs of Opposites controlling the energy of a bond and it’s resilient modes , I could get from Lao Tzu and Yin – Yan theology … Many times I explain this phenomenon through YOGA psychology . Bonding process got to have balancing energy of opposite paired … There could be Controlled and uncontrolled systems in case of bonding of the pairs of opposite … A team or organisation too is structured similarly to creat bonds and evolve the changing field to have high energy bonds … Excellent Article Dr Ali , I enjoyed reading at this moment .. Thank you very much for referring me to the article
My previous reply remains the same. dear Vishwas
“When we have opposite ideas spinning in opposite directions they bond. The creative tension is energized enough to make the two opposite ideas bond and for a new material to emerge.” A dynamic positive statement Dr Ali …
Best thoughts on Pairs of Opposites controlling the energy of a bond and it’s resilient modes , I could get from Lao Tzu and Yin – Yan theology … Many times I explain this phenomenon through YOGA psychology . Bonding process got to have balancing energy of opposite paired … There could be Controlled and uncontrolled systems in case of bonding of the pairs of opposite … A team or organisation too is structured similarly to creat bonds and evolve the changing field tohave high energy bonds … Excellent Article Dr Ali , I enjoyed reading at this moment .. Thank you very much for referring me to the article
Your comment is mind-stirring, Vishwas. In particular “There could be Controlled and uncontrolled systems in case of bonding of the pairs of opposite … A team or organisation too is structured similarly to creat bonds and evolve the changing field to have high energy bonds …”
Having both options of controllable and uncontrollable fashions enhances resilience. The more variety we have, the more resilience we normally get.
I look forward on reading more from you on this particular issue.
The thought your post brought up, Ali, is that from this it seems that contagion of negatives is more likely than a contagion of positives. It is the electrons, not the protons or neutrons, that run around, partake in creating electricity, and spin into “group think.”
On social media, negative posts spread like wildfire where positive posts seem to fizz out much faster.
When we are exposed to negative stimuli, it takes 5-6 positive stimuli to neutralize the feelings from one negative event.
The universe seems to be created of 95% darkness of which we know nothing and 5% of which we have any idea at all.
With all this darkness and negativity it is amazing we are even here to ponder it.
It is a very interesting comment, Charlotte. I refer to what you said about negative emotions “On social media, negative posts spread like wildfire where positive posts seem to fizz out much faster.”
This is true, butI must add one more idea here and this shows that we are in synchronicity. I am writing a post part of which shall deal with stirring emotions. I ran across a reference that reads “While it’s true that the negative emotions associated with betrayal, trauma, tragedy and death are large and memorable, they also die when we do. Positive emotions—and in particular higher emotions—live beyond us. The highest emotions become the timeless virtues extolled in every religion and recommended by every great thinker.’
https://writerunboxed.com/2015/01/07/stirring-higher-emotions/
Positive effect of action last longer than negative ones. Indeed, as you mentioned, negative feelings leading to negative actions and spread much faster. They are mobile. This is contrasting with positive emotion.