[enteltcheft]

ok - i've been mulling this over for a bit now and i think i have it at a point where i can explain it. when i first started studying the ra material, i had a general view of the polarities as linear, and existing in opposing spaces. (see attached stovstslinear.gif)

but after digesting the material, it seems to me that progression happens along a plan more shaped like a teardrop. (see attached stovstsactual.gif)

meaning that the polarities aren't so different after all; in fact, the more strongly polarized on either path would be, in this model, more similar to each other than to the undecided.

and the paths are seen as not so different; sts vs sto stops being so much a question of good vs bad and becomes more of an issue of efficient vs. inefficient, with sto analogous to riding the up escalator to the creator, while sts would be analogous to running up the down escalator, pushing and bumping your way through the people who are standing still. it takes longer, you make fewer friends along the way, and not as many people do it, but eventually you get to the same place.

what does everybody think? is this how you picture it in your minds?