Contradiction

A contradiction, as of the first definition to pop up on Google, is “a combination of statements, ideas, or features of a situation that are opposed to one another.” There are many ways to define contradiction. That said, why does almost every definition of the word contradiction still seem oddly specific?

For a contradiction to exist, there must be a simultaneous opposition and comparison between things.  It is oddly specific because if you only have the opposition, without the comparison, then those things only exist independently. If you have a comparison without opposition, then those things merely parallel one another.

Then there is the understanding of the main antonym to contradiction, confirmation. A confirmation, as of the first definition to pop up on Google, is “the act of confirming something or the state of being confirmed” This definitional duality seems to imply that: if confirmation is to prove right, then a contradiction is to prove wrong.

 

Now I know what you might be thinking.

What are you talking about?

Why would I care?

What is the point of talking about this?

 

All excellent questions! What just happened was I took a word and went down a search engine rabbit hole. True to the Alice in Wonderland style, there was no real rhyme or reason for doing this. Sometimes it is just about looking at things (in this instance, words) from different perspectives.

 

It was informative, yet illogical, which is within itself a kind of contradiction.

• words
• writing