Georg Hegel Sez...

Just wound down the weekend with a great phone call from the Baron von Philadelphia. Just like ol' times, it resulted in yet another Great Theory of Human Nature! The Baron and I used to while away our days and nights together on the bohemian fringes of gay Philadelphia doing just that.

So here it is.

Georg Hegel observed in his work on logic that 'every affirmation is also a negation.' What that means is that when you say 'yes' to something, there is literally an entire universe of options that you are simultaneously saying no to.

At a certain point in our lives, we all figure that out. Up until that point, it's all a ball of confusion. Stress, anxiety, that feeling of being cornered and trapped. Most people figure that out within the context of a relationship. When you're dating someone when you're in your twenties, you're constantly aware of all the other people who seem to be interested in you. And you take a look at your True and Forever Love and think, 'Why am I with this... this... person who leaves his coffee cup out on the kitchen counter instead of putting it in the sink and putting water in it when I could be with him!' And with your job. And with where you're groing on vacation. And with taking the American Novel instead of Probability and Statistics.

But then, we get it. After you get it, then it's not actually hard to be aware that the 'yes' is, in fact, also a no to a universe of options, but to go ahead and say 'yes' anyway.

But, there are two kinds of people in the world: those that have figured it out, and those that haven't. Before you get it, it's all about confusion. Best to know who you're dealing with, particularly when the 'yes' involves a romantic entanglement.

(The preceeding has been brought to you by the Timeless Wisdom Department here at Singletails.)

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