THE BEGINNING

In the beginning, all was one; there was no difference, no change, only unity. This persisted for eternity, or for an instant, for without change there was no time. For reasons that will forever elude us, the demiurge set history in motion by creating the first difference: one became two, and reality was torn asunder. Dichotomy lies at the very heart of reality, as it is from this first difference that all subsequent difference emerged, and it can be seen reflected in every stage of the universe; from the basis of mathematics (1+1=2), reproduction (where one cell becomes two), light and dark, death and life, beginning and end. A new unity between opposites came to dominate, where the dichotomy between two mutually opposing theses drove change through their interaction, contradiction, and conflict with each other.

This struggle between two mutually antagonistic, yet fundamentally linked, phenomena is what pushes history forward, as through their struggle change is inevitable as one side gains the upper hand and the other falters; this conflict moves through time like a spiral, where familiar patterns repeat themselves with slight variations each time; the conflict gradually intensifies, until eventually a breaking point is reached at the end of the spiral, where only one thesis remains. This thesis, shaped by prior struggle, takes on a new form, combining the aspects of both thesis and antithesis to create a synthesis. But this synthesis contains internal contradictions, and these contradictions struggle against each other, and so the spiral begins again.