Dialectics are based on the concept that everything is composed of contradictory forces and that change occurs when there is a "dialogue" between those opposing forces.
Put more simply, the dialectic is basically the idea of something new coming out of the process of conflict between opposites - a new understanding of truth, a new perspective, a new relationship, a new status quo, a new paradigm, a new dynamic, a new power, a new order, etc.
Types of Dialectics
Conversational Dialectic:
a way of discovering what is true by considering opposite theories (source)
using questions and answers as a method of examining something or of finding a solution to a problem (source)
a discourse between two or more people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to establish the truth through reasoned argumentation (source)
Socratic Dialectic:
definition -> contradiction -> new definition
Socratic Dialectic Generalized:
thesis -> antithesis -> transcendent thesis
Platonic Dialectic:
SUM( dialectics ) -> Final Truth of the Good
Platonic Dialectic Generalized:
multiplicity -> unity
Aristotelian Dialectic:
Dialectic = Debate - Ego
Hegelian Dialectic:
abstraction -> negation -> concretization
Hegelian Dialectic Generalized:
thesis -> internal antithesis -> sublation
Kantian Dialectic:
thesis -> antithesis -> synthesis
Transcendent Philosophy Dialectic:
Worse Ideology -> Better Ideology -> Adopt Better Ideology
Good A Bad B Ideology -> Good X Bad Y Ideology -> Adopt Synthesis Good A Good X Ideology
Marxist Dialectic:
upper class pleasure -> lower class pain -> revolution into a new economic equalibrium
Rugged Masculinity Dialectic:
Hard times -> strong men -> good times -> weak men -> hard times
Mormon Dialectic:
Hard times -> righteous men -> good times -> wicked men -> hard times
Gaming Dialectic:
Player moves -> Competitor moves -> Resolution
Cosmic Dialectic:
Matter -> Antimatter -> Surviving Excess Matter
Scattered Matter -> Gravity -> Gathered Matter
Small Gravitoid -> Large Gravitoid -> Synthesis into Larger Gravitoid or into a Gravitoid System
Electronegativity Dialectic:
Weak Atom -> Strong Atom -> Strong Atom steals electron, or Strong Atom bonds with Weak Atom by sharing the electron
Chemical Evolution Dialectic:
Chemical A -> Chemical B -> Chemical Reaction Synthesis
Autocatalytic Chemical System -> Mutations -> Better Autocatalytic Chemical System
Evolutionary Dialectic:
Orignial Creature -> Mutant Creature -> Survivor or Surviving System (Group)
Original Group -> Mutant Group -> Survivor or Surviving System (Nation)
National Dialectic:
Nation A -> Nation B -> Survivor or Surviving System
Empire A -> Empire B -> Survivor or Surviving System
Alliance A -> Alliance B -> Survivor or Surviving System
Intra-Religious Dialectic:
Religious Interpretation A -> Religious Interpretation B -> Unity or System of Dysunity
Religious Syncretism Dialectic:
Religion A -> Religion B -> Religion AB
God of the Gaps Dialectic:
Supernatural Truth Claims -> Natural Counter-Evidence -> Natural Explanations
Political Dialectic:
Party A -> Party B -> Winner
Cultural Dialectic:
Culture ABC -> Cultural Criticism of A -> Introduction of D -> New Culture BCD
Market Dialectic:
Product A -> Product B -> Surving Product or System of Products
Company A -> Company B -> Surviving Company or System of Companies
Psychological Dialectic:
Idea -> Contradiction -> Reflective Equalibrium
Neurological Dialectic:
Excitatory Neural Circuit A -> Inhibitory Neural Circuit B -> Stronger Circuit Wins
Finite Resources -> Divide between competing Neural Circuit A and Neural Circuit B -> Stronger Circuit Wins
Bayesian Dialectic:
Initial Probability Guesses -> Test for Gap between Guess a Reality -> Update Probabilities
Machine Learning Dialectic:
Initial System of Probability Weights-> Test Gap between System and Training Data -> Update System
Integral Theory Conflict Dynamics
Since the dialectic is about managing conflict, different types of conflict would produce different dialectics.
Beige Dialectic:
Yeller A -> Yeller B -> Better Yeller Wins
Purple Dialectic:
Curser A -> Curser B -> Better Curser Wins
Red Dialectic:
Belittler A -> Belittler B -> Better Belittler Wins
Blue Dialectic:
Disputer A -> Disputer B -> Better Disputer Wins
Orange Dialectic:
Debater A -> Debater B -> Better Debater Wins
Green Dialectic:
Relativizer A -> Relativizer B -> Better Relativizer Wins
Yellow Dialectic:
Dialectician A -> Dialectician B -> Better Dialectician Wins
Turquoise Dialectic:
Harmonizer A -> Harmonizer B -> Better Harmonizer Wins
Daoism
Dialectic reduces to the flow of nature from conflict towards balance, or evolution towards a new equilibrium.
Tao Te Ching: Chapter 42 - https://www.daodejing.org/42.html
道生一，一生二，二生三，三生万物。
The Dao brings forth one, one brings forth two, two brings forth three, and three brings forth all things.
万物负阴而抱阳，冲气以为和
All things are burdened by Yin, but embrace Yang, the conflicting energies flowing together in mutual perturbations until they reach a harmony.
The Dao reduces to the flow of nature from conflict towards balance, or evolution towards a new equilibrium.
Dialectic = The Dao 道
Homeostasis
Free Energy Principle - could be more intuitively named as the "Minimize Prediction Error Principle." Energy is lost when reality doesn't match your expectations. Getting better information helps create better expectations. Biological systems use homeostasis to minimize prediction errors.
Homeostasis -
Detect Data -> Measure against Goal -> Calculate Gap -> Take action to reduce Gap
Dialectic reduces to homeostasis - the attempt to reach the goal of a stable equalibrium by applying contradictory forces.
Dialectic = Homeostasis
Simplified Reductive Dialectic:
Original Thing -> New Thing -> Gap between Original Thing and New Thing -> Flow towards the reduction in the Gap
Sometimes the flow reverses backwards towards the original thing.
Sometimes the flow progresses forwards towards the new thing.