Our universe (there maybe more than one) was created some 14 billion years ago, give or take a few hundred million, by way of an event known as The Big Bang. As the name implies, The Big Bang was a sudden event in which within a fraction of a fraction of a second the universe expanded from an exceedingly small object (no one knows exactly how small) to something close to its present size. At this point in its creation, the universe was a vast extremely hot plasma like void of pure energy. Within an additional fraction of a fraction of a second the universe had cooled to the point where particles could form from this sea of energy in accordance to Einstein's equation E = mC^2^, clearly the most famous equation in all of science.
Einstein's equation shows the equivalence between the mass of a particle and the energy that it contains. Another way of looking at it is that E = mC^2^ specifies the amount of energy necessary to create a particle of a given mass. And that's exactly what our new universe started doing as it began to cool and continues doing today. That is, energy throughout space did and still does coalesce to form the particles that make up atoms.
As fascinating as particles with mass being created from a field of energy may seem, that's only part of the story. The even more fascinating part is that these particles pop out, not as single entities but as twin pairs. When this occurs, one of the pairs somehow becomes the "real" particle in which it obtains the characteristics necessary for it to merge with other particles to become an atom. In the meantime, its twin becomes what is known as a virtual particle.
A virtual particle is similar to its real particle counterpart except that it will have at least one opposite characteristic. For example, the virtual opposite of an electron, which carries a negative charge, is a positron, which carries a positive charge while being similar, if not identical, to the electron in all other aspects.
Virtual particles became so named because, for the most part, their existence can only be inferred from indirect evidence. The most noted exception to this generality is the positron. This virtual particle is directly known to play a most important role in medicine where it is an essential feature of Positron Emission Tomography, better known as a PET scan. Tomography is the production of a three-dimensional image of the internal structure of an object, such as an organ within the human body. A PET scan instrument uses both positrons and their opposite entity electrons to create a tomographic image of, for example a kidney, which can then be examined by a physician.
Unlike the positron-electron interaction of a real particle (an electron) with its virtual counterpart (a positron) most real-virtual particle interactions, as previously noted, have not been directly observed. But that they do occur has been inferred from the effects that they produce. To describe this, we will first note that there are some 30 real sub-atomic particles that we know of, and each of these has a virtual counterpart. These particles exist in a very dynamic state in which they are constantly changing form, sometimes reverting back to an energy state and at other times becoming a different particle. This dynamic interplay is thought to involve mutual interaction of all real and virtual particles, and, for reasons not completely understood, is necessary for the continuous building and rebuilding of atoms and molecules.
The bottom line at this point is that the creation of objects within the universe, from atoms on up, initially required, and still requires, the mutual interaction of opposites, such as exists between real and virtual particles. The theme of the necessity of mutual interaction of opposites can be found at all levels of matter, from single atoms to complex living organisms to societies of living beings.
Consider that atoms are able to function because the positive charged protons within the nucleus are balanced by negative charged electrons occupying domains around the nucleus. Any disruption of this interaction of opposites will change the nature of the atom as well as any molecule that the atom may be associated with.
Biological cells, from plants to people, also utilize opposing electrical charges to carry out many of their functions. The framework for this is that the inside of the membrane that covers individual cells has a negative charge the manipulation of which is used to attract positive charged ions into the cell, which, in turn, elicit a particular action of the cell. This is basically the way nerve cells, called neurons, in our nervous system work.
Moving from atoms and single cells to complex organisms, such as us human types, we note that our complexity is manifested by the cooperative interaction of a multitude of tissues and organs, such as muscle tissue along with organs such as the heart and kidneys. To function properly within a complex organism, each of these tissues and organs must be highly regulated such that their actions stay within the boundary of what is beneficial for the organism as a whole. Nature has chosen to achieve precise regulation by a continual balancing of factors that promote a particular function with ones that inhibit the same function (i.e., the interaction of opposites). The most commonly known example of this is the regulation of heart rate. In mammals, including humans, the rhythm of the heart is achieved by a balancing of the two opposite branches of the autonomic nervous system that innervate the heart. The activity of one of these, the parasympathetic system, causes heart rate to slow down, while the other, the sympathetic system, has the opposite effect causing heart rate to speed up. At any given moment, and for any activity of an individual, heart rate is determined by a balancing of the opposite effects of these two neuro factors. An action that calls for an increase in heart rate is achieved by an increase in sympathetic and a decrease in parasympathetic activity. The opposite occurs in situations requiring a decrease in heart rate.
The theme of regulation by a balancing of opposite control mechanisms governs the activity of essentially all tissues and organs within a living being. Furthermore, this balancing is maintained by what, metaphorically speaking, could be viewed as mutual cooperation among the various regulatory factors such that no single factor dominates. When this isn't the case, an imbalance occurs often leading to a disease state.
A particular type of mutual interaction of opposites is the control of body motion. For example, the movement of arms and legs is governed by two sets of skeletal muscles. One set causes a limb (e.g., an arm) to flex moving the limb toward the body, while the opposite set elicits an extension of the limb which moves it away from the body. Picking up an object is achieved by contraction of flexor muscles of the arm along with a corresponding relaxation of extensor muscles, while throwing an object, such as a baseball, is achieved by the opposite action, e.g., relaxation of the flexors and contraction of the extensors. The vast majority of body motions that we undergo on a daily basis operate in this manner, that is via a precise interaction of the opposite effects of flexor and extensor muscles.
The mutual cooperation among control mechanisms for a given tissue or organ extends to cooperative coordination among all tissues and organs within a living being. One thing that this means is that an organ, such as the heart, does not operate in isolation, and therefore, cannot be adequately studied while separated from the body within which it normally resides. Pioneer investigators of physiology in the 19^th^ and 20^th^ centuries did not realize this, and as such often made incorrect conclusions about the functioning of a particular tissue or organ.
In a similar manner to the interaction of factors that govern the internal functioning of an individual organism, such as a person, the interaction of additional factors operating at the conscious and subconscious levels influence the behaviors of a single individual as well as the interactions of societies of individuals. But unlike the internal factors that for the most part operate from birth on, behavioral factors are constantly developing and changing over the lifetime of an individual as collectively influenced by their environment and experiences.
Similar to the interaction of opposing physical factors that contribute to the regulation of our internal body, mental entities that govern our behaviors also tend to operate as an interaction of opposites. This aspect of human behavior was well known by the ancient mistic religions. At present the most known, and perhaps practiced, of these is Taoism, developed around 500 BCE by the philosopher Lao Tzu. The core principle of this philosophy is the concept of ying and yang -- the ever presence of opposites in our thoughts and actions. Love vs hate. Empathy vs animosity. Altruistic vs narcissistic. Introvert vs extrovert. Prideful vs humble. Conservative vs liberal. And so on. Taoism holds that each of us is a blend of these and many other opposite behaviors and that each of us tends to favor one over the other in our actions. However, over time many of these behavioral opposites tend to reside in our subconscious where their associated actions become manifested more as autonomic reflexes than as conscious thoughts. This aspect of behavior can be described as bias. For example, you may be subconsciously biased against people of a particular ethnicity, even though you may not consciously discriminate against that same group of people. Since no two people experience the exact same life path, I think it's safe to say that no two people have the same set of bias attitudes.
In contrast to what you might think, a variety of biases among people is not a bad thing. Throughout history individuals with different likes, dislikes, attitudes and priorities have gotten together to work out differences and come up with agendas that become beneficial for those affected by whatever issue is being considered, be it a small family matter or something that impacts a large segment of society, such as the curricula for a school district. Indeed, this is the way in which representative governments achieve results that are reflective of the wishes of the electorate as a whole. The keys for such a political system to work are mutual respect among the members participating in the legislation, not only for the person but for the ideas they represent as well, and the willingness of each member to compromise.
At one time this was standard practice among Democrat and Republican members of the United States Congress, and as a result things got done. Unfortunately, this has often not been the case in recent years. In fact, cooperation 'across the aisle' has become the exception rather than the rule.
It is hard to pinpoint exactly when the lack of cooperation across the aisle began, but at least one watershed moment comes to mind. During President Obama's first couple of years in the Oval Office Mitch McConnell, the then Senate Minority Leader, made his now infamous statement: "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president". This signaled an unwillingness of Senate Republicans to work with their Democrat counterparts. Since that time there has been a gradual decrease in the willingness of both Democrats and Republicans to compromise in their negotiations. Accordingly, congress doesn't work nearly as well now as it did when mutual respect across the aisle was the norm.
This example illustrates the point that when people with differing views approach a common task with mutual respect things get done, but when the interaction is hostile in nature they don't. On that note, it is people with differing points of view working together on common tasks that has to a large measure made our country as great as it is, something that many of today's political leaders seem to have forgotten, particularly those opposed to immigration.
Many other examples of the benefits of diversity among members of a society could be cited. But, to keep this brief, I will point out just the one that I am most familiar with as a career educator, which is the value of classroom diversity. I saw this expressed the most in the college freshman science classes that I taught. These students, most of whom had yet to settle on a major, came from a large variety of backgrounds and differing opinions. The students, as well as myself, benefited by hearing a variety of opinions on the various topics that we discussed.
The summary of this essay is that from sub-atomic particles to people there is value in the interaction of opposites. So, if you're a republican cordially listen to and respect the opinions of democrats, and, of course, vice versa. This example holds for interactions with anyone and everyone who may have opinions and/or priorities different from yours. Just as real subatomic particles need virtual particles to do their work, we need each other to do ours.