We can say that the "or" is distinctively male in character. Think Sampson pushing apart the columns. Think freedom from slavery or other forms of subjugation. Any unity that the "or" may seek, whether in the form of copulation or conquest, is temporary, a means towards hegemony. The Romans conquered so they could be great. A man screws to attain genetic dominance.
The "and" is distinctively female in character. It seeks togetherness and unity for its own sake. It is incomplete unless it is with. And even with that withness, it will always be incomplete.
And the unity between the "and" and "or", while temporary, is often more powerful than the bond between the "and" and "and". Think the penis, jutting out, wishing to express its power and dominance, only to be sucked in by that which seeks unity for its own sake. The penis withdraws to preserve the illusion of dominance, so that the man can tell his friends about his conquests, so that the "or" can continue to exist. And this is the natural state of things. The "and" and always existed and the "or" has always existed.
Even before the "big bang" the "or" existed. Perhaps everything was unity as has been theorized. Perhaps electrons and nuclei and protons and elements and atoms and the various elements had not come into existence. Perhaps all was one "super atom". But this state of affairs could not last indefinitely. For the "or" was always there. Just like energy can be neither created or destroyed and is always there in either potential or actual form, the "or" can be neither created or destroyed. Perhaps it was not there prior to the big bang, at least in actual form. But it was there in its potential form. Perhaps it existed exclusively in its potential form at that time, but it existed. And its prevalence has neither increased nor diminished. Nor will it ever increase or diminish. Perhaps entropy is increasing as the universe continues to expand. Perhaps galaxies continue to be pushed farther and farther apart as astronomers say. But the "or" is not increasing in prevalence. Its form may be changing from potential to actual. But it always was there and always will be there. (My earlier entry about the "or" running wild was a joke).
We can say the same about the "and". It has always been there and always will be there. It can neither be increased nor diminished. Perhaps, in contrast to the "or", it existed only in actual form prior to the big bang. Perhaps it has morphed in form from actual to potential. And perhaps, at the end of time, it will be pure potential. But like energy, it can neither be created nor destroyed.
Our friends were with us forever.
