What is polarity?

[Dtris]

The way I've been looking at it, is STO is that which generates joy, and STS is that which generates misery and suffering. There's some truth to that, and it's easy to blame misery and suffering on outside factors, the architecture of the logos, etc., and avoid responsibility, but it ultimately leads to a state of disempowerment. I have been distorting it through the lens of my own biases, and not realizing that the biggest misery is in separation and that my own biases are creating a lot of both. It won't be easy to let go of these biases I've been fueling for a long time, but I realize they aren't serving me anymore. Thanks for the fresh perspective. I will be contemplating this and trying to step outside my box and comfort zone a bit.

I've tended towards the opposite bias, viewing whether things feel good or bad as a "surface matter" only, and polarity as a question of something else, a less visible nature of what is done and what it means.

Neurochemicals tend to decide whether joy is felt or not, and anyone could be made to feel positive by being drugged, including in the most negative of contexts. Conversely, something could bring a person greatly down inwardly, even as the greatest act of service to others is performed.

But I've come some way towards a synthesis, in noting that joy can be linked to balance and harmony, and that such for a person are linked to what's in the person's nature, making it more related to positivity the more positively polarized a person is.

I have never really associated the concepts with emotional states. I try to keep things simple whenever I can. For me I have always viewed it as a very literal statement of intent and effect. Whenever an action is undertaken is the purpose to serve yourself or others, and does it actually serve others. Polarity is the metaphysical charge gained thru action. If you notice, it is always mentioned that polarity is lost or gained as a result of actions. If the intent is pure but the result does not match the intent the polarity lost or gained is modified.

Looking at suffering and joy as the arbiter of polarity is a mistake. There are a lot of things that a person has to go thru that can be described as suffering, to get the results wanted for themselves or others. Child birth being a natural example. Often whether something is enjoyable or insufferable depends completely on your own attitudes and beliefs toward that thing. The inverse is also true and a lot of enjoyable things are not helpful.