Posted on by andy

Evil more fundamental?

So, an intriguing perspective, as pointed out by “ST: Voyager” in an episode titled “The Darkling“… The episode basically centers around a malfunction in The Doctor such that he goes all Jekyll and Hyde on the crew and attacks people…

…anyway, here’s the important part… The Doctor goes on this rant about evil, essentially describing evil as more “fundamental” than good. The argument went from a physics perspective such that light involves photons, which is made up of particles (yes, light has mass…weird, eh?), yet there is no corresponding particle for dark. So, if there were no particles of light, there would only be dark. There is no corresponding force to go against light, at least as far as particle physics goes.

I guess it’s just an interesting idea, ’cause I’d always heard the argument that you can’t have good without evil, and vice versa, because our notion of “right” and “wrong” requires that opposing force. How can one define “evil” without a “good” to counterbalance it? Our notion of “evil” requires that you know what is bad and what isn’t, and to know what isn’t, you have to have a sense of “good”…confused, much?

Well, using the argument from physics, actually, light (i.e. “good”) is the force encroaching upon what would be there otherwise (i.e. “evil”). If there were no light, there would only be dark. You can’t not have dark (w00t!, double-negative). But you can not have light.

So, thusly I ask: is evil more fundamental than good?

7 Replies to “Evil more fundamental?”

  1. so, to add to your “dilema” how about the religious aspect to the “light” and “dark”?

  4. Why does light represent good and dark represent evil? They seem to only be related because we tend to trust things we can see as opposed to the unknown, otherwise the concepts of light/good and dark/evil are completely separate.

    But I guess to put it simply: evil is not the absence of good, or vice versa. The concepts you are trying to compare are completely different in this respect.

    Kudos for the ST:Voyager reference though. 😛

  5. Well yeah, see, I think the whole “light” and “dark” thing as “good” vs “evil” probably started from a religious point-of-view… At least, to my knowledge, that was the first time the metaphor was used (not necessarily Christianity, of course…probably some other religion…).

    Dark is definitely the absence of light, but that’s the point. Light has mass. Dark does not. Dark is just there, whereas light is only a result of the Big Bang (or whichever theory you subscribe to). If there were no light, dark is what would result instead… We may not call it “dark,” but then again, without light (i.e. the Big Bang…), we wouldn’t exist either! Now, that is an interesting point to explore…

    And Kai, yeah, I dunno…that is a good point…and that probably goes back to the religious part… Since that’s where the metaphor comes from (I think…), I guess that’s why the association was made and not vice versa… Then again, so far as “trust” goes, evil tends to trust the dark, while good tends to trust the light, thus associating the two. Rarely, in mythology (or real-life, even, with crime rates, etc.), is it the opposite…

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