Every phenomenon contains interdependent contradictory elements that are in constant push-pull motion. Real life (as opposed to theoretical abstraction) is complex, and discrete entities encompass multitudes of contradictory processes, are affected by other various phenomena beyond their boundaries (boundaries that are often arbitrarily conceptualized), and are themselves elements of larger contradictions. Still, each has an essence, a fundamental contradiction that determines its existence, nature, and development — one that if its dominant aspect was overturned, would transform the whole phenomenon into something completely different from its previous self, with a new contradiction at its core.