The Jekyll and Hyde dyad
Duality. Dichotomy. Dyad. There exist two poles that attempt to explain reality—our reality. Everything seems to consist of two-sided truths. Think of this as paired word concepts, antonym pairs, polar opposites, or linguistic dipoles, commonly used to define the extremes of a spectrum, create balance, or highlight conflict. We will not know one without knowing the other. We cannot experience one without experiencing the other. And, somewhere in between these two sides, we find a spectrum, a scale, a band of states that define the event in its entirety. Popular word pairs include good vs. evil, right vs. wrong (fundamental and moral opposites), light vs. darkness, hot vs. cold (physical and experiential dualities), masculine vs. feminine, rich vs. poor (human nature and social concepts), and yin vs. yang, theory vs. practice (conceptual and philosophical pairs).
Mathematicians transform calculus-based ordinary differential equations into algebra-based forms (auxiliary equations) and arrive at the same set of final solutions and answers. Even science abounds with dualities—truths where seemingly opposite concepts are actually deep and profound partners. That any particle (e.g., electron, photon) can both behave like a tennis ball bouncing off a racket (particle nature) or like a light wave that can bend around corners and form shadows (wave nature) is what is referred to in physics as the wave-particle duality. When a laser beam hits a barrier (like a mirror) and bounces off, we implore its particle nature. When it passes through narrow openings (slits) and produces alternating bright and dark patterns (called fringes), we invoke its wave nature.
Duality is one of the most profound concepts in modern science because it suggests that the true nature of something might be more complex than our specific way of looking at things.
When good and reputable Dr. Henry Jekyll transforms into the evil and monstrous Edward Hyde (upon drinking a potion he concocts), it is important to remember that Jekyll, even in the hideous form of Hyde does not lose his humanity. He has become the entangled states of humanity and monstrosity—an interplay of good and evil. This is an amazing artistic interpretation of dualism, dichotomy, and duality.
There is a brilliant *Jekyll and Hyde equivalent in science. In physics, this is the gigantic duality between the electric field and the magnetic field. Electricity can produce magnetism, and magnetism can produce electricity. A static electric charge owns its electric nature. But once the charge begins to move, it gains its second nature—its magnetic nature. The dynamic charge now has the entangled states of electricity and magnetism. The motion of the charge is the “serum” that transforms electricity into magnetism. This electric-magnetic duality is best experienced in our modern medical imaging devices like the MRI, CT-PET, and 3D ultrasound. These devices allow for the interdependency and reciprocal conversion between electric and magnetic fields. Applications leverage this duality for wireless power transfer to implants, targeted drug delivery, and diagnostic imaging. Pure, unadulterated optics and photonics, indeed.
Why does duality even matter? Why should we even care? The concept of duality gives us the power to shift perspectives. It allows us to interpret a seemingly hard problem in one framework into a genuinely easy problem in another. It grounds us and allows for the simplification of circumstance, happenstance, and events that unfold right in front of us. Imagining the gravitational force between Jupiter and its natural satellite, Io, as something due to large fundamental masses (and distances) in the cosmos (Newtonian perspective) is equivalent to dropping a heavy bowling ball into a mattress and then letting a small marble fall into the dent it creates in the mattress (Einsteinian perspective). Io revolves around Jupiter, while the marble revolves around the bowling ball. It suggests that our fragmented interpretations (classical vs. modern) of reality might just be different “sides” of a single universal truth. It allows for the unification of perspectives, theories, and insights. While often surprising, dualities allow scientists to solve complex problems in one framework by translating them into a simpler “dual” framework. Two distinct solutions describe the same physical reality or provide identical experimental results and predictions. To be or not to be? Climate change or disaster risk? Dyad, anyone?
*Jekyll and Hyde refers to the dual personalities of Dr. Henry Jekyll and Mr. Edward Hyde from Robert Louis Stevenson’s 1886 Gothic horror novella, “Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” Transformed into a musical in 1990, it had its Broadway debut in 1997.
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Dr. Joel Tiu Maquiling may be reached at jmaquiling@ateneo.edu
