History Main / HarmonyVersusDiscipline

* During [[{{Jidaigeki}} Edo Japanese]] periods, [[{{Samurai}} Samurai]] were undeniably Discipline, for disobeying the Bushido Code was punishable by death or execution. [[{{Ronin}} Ronin]] were generally considered the opposite, serving as the Harmony since they're believed to had strayed from their former duties, with a tendency to become hired mercenaries instead.

* During [[{{Jidaigeki}} Edo Japanese]] periods, [[{{Samurai}} Samurai]] were undeniably Discipline, for disobeying the Bushido Code was punishable by death or execution. [[{{Ronin}} Ronin]] were generally considered the opposite,

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s color wheel, this is the core conflict between Green and Blue. Green is Harmony: it believes in staying in tune with nature and allowing progress to occur at its natural, gradual pace. Blue is Discipline: it believes in the pursuit of knowledge and technology, and in working actively to improve oneself.\\
\\
The conflict is manifested in the gameplay: Blue looks for tactical advantages with card drawing and various forms of disruption. Green discards the complex strategies and simply ''fights'', summoning the biggest monsters and using them to smash things, the way nature intended. FleshVersusSteel shows up too, with Blue having the most cards that interact with artifacts while Green excels at destroying them.\\
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There are also tinges of this in the two colors' relationships with the other three. Green abhors Black's [[PoweredByAForsakenChild exploitation]] and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], while Blue respects its [[TheUnfettered pragmatism]] and [[ToBeAMaster drive for self-improvement]]; Green admires Red's [[HotBlooded sheer passion]] where Blue dismisses it as ChaoticStupid. White is the middle ground between Green and Blue, believing that discipline is an integral part of harmony.

->''Etherium clouded my eyes, clogged my ears, desensitized my skin. Now that I can feel, I can begin to learn.''

* In ''Literature/WatershipDown'', Cowslip's warren is a [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Utopia]] of the extreme of harmony with no Chief Rabbit, no need to forage, and no struggle to survive-- and an [[TownWithADarkSecret unavoidable dark secret]]. Efrafa is a Utopia of discipline where rabbits follow TheSpartanWay. Neither are regarded as pleasant places. Interestingly, though, the Efrafan way gets [[WorthyOpponent an ambiguous kind of respect]].
* On ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Simon is an example of Discipline. Though it is possible to kill him, ''nothing and nobody'' can break him- River only melts him. Kaylee is an example of Harmony, with her love of everybody and her love of Serenity (an odd example of "harmony" being represented by a machine and its mechanic). River too, represents Harmony the way she loves to dance, and mistakes a gun for a leafy twig. Mal, of course, is the epitome of Discipline, as his resolve is made of iron.

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s color wheel, this is the core conflict between Green and Blue. Green is Harmony: it believes in staying in tune with nature and allowing progress to occur at its natural, gradual pace. Blue is Discipline: it believes in the pursuit of knowledge and technology, and in working actively to improve oneself.\\
\\
The conflict is manifested in the gameplay: Blue looks for tactical advantages with card drawing and various forms of disruption. Green discards the complex strategies and simply ''fights'', summoning the biggest monsters and using them to smash things, the way nature intended. FleshVersusSteel shows up too, with Blue having the most cards that interact with artifacts while Green excels at destroying them.\\
\\
There are also tinges of this in the two colors' relationships with the other three. Green abhors Black's [[PoweredByAForsakenChild exploitation]] and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], while Blue respects its [[TheUnfettered pragmatism]] and [[ToBeAMaster drive for self-improvement]]; Green admires Red's [[HotBlooded sheer passion]] where Blue dismisses it as ChaoticStupid. White is the middle ground between Green and Blue, believing that discipline is an integral part of harmony.
** The best summation of a Blue-Green accord isn't the Simic Guild (which is mostly Blue people acting on Green things), it is the card Vedalken Heretic:
->''Etherium clouded my eyes, clogged my ears, desensitized my skin. Now that I can feel, I can begin to learn.''
* Musical ensembles can't produce Harmony without Discipline.

* In ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' Maria is Harmony ''married'' to Captain von Trapp's Discipline. She is a merry ManicPixieDreamGirl who loves singing and dancing, while Captain von Trapp is a [[TheStoic Stoic]] OfficerAndAGentleman whose DeathGlare is a weapon of mass destruction.
* As per the standard dichotomy of [[OrderVersusChaos Law and Chaos]], ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' usually features this as a core undercurrent. Harmony is generally associated with the Chaos Faction (which favors emotions), and Law enforces Discipline (which operates via logic and strict control). That said, there are exceptions: Chaos may utilize Discipline to gain and enforce power while Law may use Harmony to foster its ethic of conformity. Yet as with everything else Lawful and Chaotic, Harmony AND Discipline become limiting when used exclusively. The path of Neutrality on the other hand seeks to balance the two.
* In the ''{{VideoGame/Ultima}}'' series, two of the six Ophidian Virtues are known as Ethicality (adhere to the rules of conduct) and Tolerance (accept that the world is what it is and that you're part of it). They are considered opposing Virtues by the forces of Law and Chaos, but in actuality it is necessary to balance both against each other, resulting in the Virtue of Harmony (be at peace with yourself and the world).

* Two major philosophies have governed China for most of its history. Creator/{{Confucius}} was obsessed with discipline, duty, and academic knowledge. While UsefulNotes/{{Taoism}} is all about seeking harmony with nature and going with the flow, with some suggestions of anarchism.
* Creator/FriedrichNietzsche espoused two different "muses" or sources of inspiration for art, attributing them to the Greek gods Apollo (representing visual art and inspiring through dreams) and Dionysus (representing music and inspiring through intoxication). According to Nietzsche, the Apollonian (Discipline) was subordinate to the Dionysian (Harmony) insofar as Dionysian inspiration - hearing the mother's heartbeat ''in utero'' - was more primal and developed in the consciousness earlier than Apollonian, once the eyes were opened. However, the Apollonian also served to distinguish a more "enlightened" Dionysian art from aimless hedonism for its own sake.
* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Raven was Discipline (her powers required focus and would quickly get out of control if she was emotional) and Starfire was Harmony (her powers required her to feel). This was explored in an episode where they changed bodies.
* In ''[[VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth Civilization: Beyond Earth]]'', Harmony affinity is very much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - using extensive gene-splicing and biotechnology to integrate humanity into the alien ecosystem, with the intention to never allow the tragedy of [[GaiasLament the Great Mistake]] to ever happen again. Supremacy is strongly Discipline, as they modify their environment and even their own bodies with cybernetics and robotics to suit all their needs. Purity at first seems strongly Discipline as well as their entire philosophy can be summed as "no, universe, ''you'' change for ''us''", with technology focusing on surviving and eventually terraforming the hostile alien ecosystem. However, their refusal to modify their bodies and their cultural reverence for Old Earth have distinct harmonious flavour.
* In ''Fanfic/TheVow'', the Shēnghuó Province's Shan Palace and Gongmen City's Tower of the Sacred Flame are both described to be breathtaking structures, albeit in opposite ways, with the former being the Harmony to the latter's Discipline.
--> The Shan Palace blended with the nature that surrounded it, a part of the luscious gardens and mountain springs, as if it had grown from the mountains that it was built in; the Tower of the Sacred Flame was a monument of might and majesty, set as an achievement of what its builders could do without nature.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer -- One person approaches an art through accuracy and sticking to established rules and strategy (Discipline). The other approaches it through innovation and originality (Harmony).

* HeavenVersusHell -- One is Harmony, and the other is Discipline; which is which depends on the author's feelings on the topic.

* RedOniBlueOni -- The Red Oni tends to be Harmony, and the Blue Discipline.

Opposing Harmony is Discipline, the belief that mankind can and should master themselves and their environment for the betterment of all. Be it through mastery of the self through rigorous mental and/or physical training, study, exploration or with laws and civilization, this rigorous pursuit usually advocates science, progress, [[RitualMagic Magic in its intellectual aspect]], religion in its intellectual and organized aspects, innovation, urbanization and {{curiosity|IsACrapshoot}}. Discipline believes that Harmony is too focused on preserving and accepting, and is in fact defeatist by not trying to improve things, this is why Discipline tends to be active. On the flip side, Discipline ''can'' end up tampering with things best left untouched, can give its practitioners [[AGodAmI a God complex]], and can lose sight of the now in favor of tomorrow.

* TechnicianVersusPerformer -- One contestant is good because he worked at it (Discipline), another because it seems to come naturally to him (Harmony).

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', the sides are represented by two acrimonious siblings. Tangent (Discipline) is a scientist whose belief in human supremacy [[MultipleEndings may]] leads her to [[spoiler:exterminate the xenofauna of Vertumna.]] Dys (Harmony), her brother, is an explorer who resents humanity and everything artificial, including [[TransTribulations the surgery that Tangent needs to feel comfortable in her body]]. The narrative takes the view that BothSidesHaveAPoint, and defines its GoldenEnding as "a way to save both [the] colony and the planet".

* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'''s color wheel, this is the core conflict between green and blue. Green is Harmony: it believes in staying in tune with nature and allowing progress to occur at its natural, gradual pace. Blue is Discipline: it believes in the pursuit of knowledge and technology, and in working actively to improve oneself.\\

The conflict is manifested in the gameplay: blue looks for tactical advantages with card drawing and various forms of disruption. Green discards the complex strategies and simply ''fights'', summoning the biggest monsters and using them to smash things, the way nature intended. FleshVersusSteel shows up too, with blue having the most cards that interact with artifacts while green excels at destroying them.\\

There are also tinges of this in the two colors' relationships with the other three. Green abhors black's [[PoweredByAForsakenChild exploitation]] and [[AmbitionIsEvil ambition]], while blue respects its [[TheUnfettered pragmatism]] and [[ToBeAMaster drive for self-improvement]]; green admires red's [[HotBlooded sheer passion]] where blue dismisses it as ChaoticStupid. White is the middle ground between green and blue, believing that discipline is an integral part of harmony.
** The best summation of a blue-green accord isn't the Simic Guild (which is mostly Blue people acting on Green things), it is the card Vedalken Heretic:

* In ''VideoGame/IWasATeenageExocolonist'', the sides are represented by two acrimonious siblings. Tangent (Discipline) is a scientist whose belief in human supremacy [[MultipleEndings may]] lead her to exterminate the xenofauna of Vertumna. Dys (Harmony), her brother, is an explorer who resents humanity and everything artificial, including [[TransTribulations the surgery that Tangent needs to feel comfortable in his/her body]]. The narrative takes the view that BothSidesHaveAPoint, and defines its GoldenEnding as "a way to save both [the] colony and the planet".

* LuddWasRight -- Discipline is inherently faulty.

* ScienceIsBad, [[InHarmonyWithNature Nature Is Good]] -- Science is inherently unharmonious, and thus bad.

* UnEqualRites -- Magic should be controlled, or treated as art, or as religion.

Expanding on the above, Harmony will believe that untamed nature, be it physical, natural or mental, is preferable and that [[StatusQuoIsGod mankind should not try to dominate or change the environment in which it finds itself]]. It believes that doing so is {{Pride}}ful and unnatural, leading only to heartache and [[ScaleOfScientificSins calamity]]. It believes that it is nature (be it Mother Nature, plain old nature, SentientCosmicForce, TheLifestream, magic, or even human impulses) that binds us all together into a greater whole which knows how best we should all coexist. Because of this outlook, Harmony tends to be reactive, correcting problems rather than seeking to prevent them. All well and good, but the less advertised side of Harmony is that [[NatureIsNotNice nature tends to have a wild, uncontrollable and potentially destructive side]]. It's (usually) completely without malice, but that's cold comfort when a tornado or magically augmented mastodon tears through your house.

* In ''[[VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth Civilization: Beyond Earth]]'', you need to colonize a new planet for humanity survive and need to choose an affinity to your faction. You have a choice of either Harmony, living in accordance with nature; Supremacy, disciplining humanity by way of transhumanism; or Purity, discipline through maintaining humanity and terraforming the earth. You can gain points of affinity in all options early, but in the late game it's almost certain you will have more affinity for one of the options, having a dominating affinity that reflects in your units, building, improvements, and may change what you need to do to win the game. Your chosen affinity will certainly generate diplomatic problems and can even escalate to war with factions with other dominating affinities.
** The Harmony affinity is very much ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin - using extensive gene-splicing and biotechnology to integrate humanity into the alien ecosystem, with the intention to never allow the tragedy of [[GaiasLament the Great Mistake]] to ever happen again. Supremacy is strongly Discipline, as they modify their environment and even their own bodies with cybernetics and robotics to suit all their needs. Purity at first seems strongly Discipline as well as their entire philosophy can be summed as "no, universe, ''you'' change for ''us''", with technology focusing on surviving and eventually terraforming the hostile alien ecosystem. However, their refusal to modify their bodies and their cultural reverence for Old Earth have distinct harmonious flavour.

* NatureVersusTechnology -- Free, but unpredictable natural world, or the rigid, calculated artificial world.

So. Which is right? [[GoodOldWays Harmony]]? [[TheSpartanWay Discipline]]? [[YinYangBomb Both]], [[TakeAThirdOption or perhaps]] [[TheUnfettered neither]]? Sometimes one and sometimes the other? This is a question of values that has RealLife counterparts and is thus entirely up to the author to decide, assuming they want to take sides in this sometimes thorny debate. Usually, a little of both is needed. Sometimes, you can get Harmony and Discipline to agree temporarily, especially in a setting where [[PassionIsEvil evil is neither harmonious nor disciplined]]. Works that come down firmly on one side or the other have been getting less and less frequent as more and more of the audience of any given work have become more educated and thus more apt to recognize the inherent hypocrisy of an author living in RealLife (where no one would be alive if we didn't have a lot of both going on, especially regarding nature itself) demonizing one or the other.

Opposing Harmony is Discipline, the belief that mankind can and should master themselves and their environment for the betterment of all. Be it through mastery of the self through rigorous mental and/or physical training, study, exploration or with laws and civilization, this rigorous pursuit usually advocates science, progress,[[RitualMagic Magic in its intellectual aspect]], religion in its intellectual and organized aspects, innovation, urbanization and {{curiosity|IsACrapshoot}}. Discipline believes that Harmony is too focused on preserving and accepting, and is in fact defeatist by not trying to improve things, this is why Discipline tends to be active. On the flip side, Discipline ''can'' end up tampering with things best left untouched, can give its practitioners [[AGodAmI a God complex]], and can lose sight of the now in favor of tomorrow.

* OrderVersusChaos -- It's assumed Chaos is Harmony, and that Order is Discipline. But then again, Order could be either Harmony or Discipline, with Chaos off in another dimension.

* UnEqualRites -- Magic should be controlled, treated as art, or as religion.

* In Literature/WatershipDown Cowslips warren is a [[UtopiaJustifiesTheMeans Utopia]] of the extreme of harmony with no Chief Rabbit, no need to forage, and no struggle to survive-- and an [[TownWithADarkSecret unavoidable dark secret]]. Efrafa is a Utopia of discipline where rabbits follow TheSpartanWay. Neither are regarded as pleasant places. Though interestingly the Efrafan way at least gets [[WorthyOpponent an ambiguous kind of respect]].
* On ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' Simon is an example of Discipline. Though as it happens it is possible to kill him ''nothing and nobody'' can break him and River only melts him. Kaylee is an example of Harmony, with her love of everybody and her love of Serenity (an odd example of "harmony" being represented by a machine and its mechanic). River too, represents Harmony the way she loves to dance, and mistakes a gun for a leafy twig. Mal, of course, is the epitome of Discipline, as his resolve is made of iron.

*** "Etherium clouded my eyes, clogged my ears, desensitized my skin. Now that I can feel, I can begin to learn."

* In Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic Maria is Harmony ''married'' to Captain von Trapp's Discipline. She is a merry ManicPixieDreamGirl who loves singing and dancing, while Captain von Trapp is a [[TheStoic Stoic]] OfficerAndAGentleman whose DeathGlare is a weapon of mass destruction.

* In the ''{{VideoGame/Ultima}}'' series, two of the six Ophidian Virtues are known as Ethicality (adhere to the rules of conduct) and Tolerance (accept that the world is what it is and that you're part of it). They are considered opposing Virtues by the forces of Law and Chaos, but in actuality it is necessary to balance both against each other, resulting in the Virtue of Harmony (be at peace with yorself and the world).

* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'', Raven was Discipline (her powers required focus and would quickly get out of control if she was emotional) and Starfire was Harmony (her powers required her to feel). This was explored in one episode where they changed bodies.
* In [[VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth Civilization: Beyond Earth]], you need to colonize a new planet for humanity survive and need to choose an affinity to your faction. You have a choice of either Harmony, living in accordance with nature; Supremacy, disciplining humanity by way of transhumanism; or Purity, discipline trough maintaining humanity and terraforming the earth. You can gain points of affinity in all options early, but in the late game it's almost certain you will have more affinity for one of the options, having a dominating affinity that reflects in your units, building, improvements, and may change what you need to do to win the game. Your chosen affinity will certainly generate diplomatic problems and can even escalate to war with factions with other dominating affinities.

* In [[VideoGame/CivilizationBeyondEarth Civilization: Beyond Earth]], you need to colonize a new planet for humanity survive and need to choose an affinity to your faction. You have a choice of either harmony, living in accordance with nature; Supremacy, disciplining humanity by way of transhumanism; or Purity, discipline trough maintaining humanity and terraforming the earth. You can gain points of affinity in all options early, but in the late game it's almost certain you will have more affinity for one of the options, having a dominating affinity that reflects in your units, building, improvements, and may change what you need to do to win the game. Your chosen affinity will certainly generate diplomatic problems and can even escalate to war with factions with other dominating affinities.

** If the four are on the side of order, Sanguine and Phlegmatic both represent the harmony side while Choleric and Melancholic are on the side of order. However, Sanguine and Choleric will try to spread their respective vision while Melancholic and Phlegmatic will make people internalize it.

This conflict can play out in any scale and genre. From [[Franchise/StarWars Jedi versus Sith]] in their view of TheForce and TheDarkSide (Do you let it flow through you and enact its will upon the galaxy? Or chafe at the "chains" so imposed and bend it to your will?), to a doctor choosing whether to go on punishing themselves for every patient lost, insisting that they just need to work themselves harder to make themselves be able to save every patient, or admitting that no, they can not save everyone.

* GentleTouchVsFirmHand -- This duality is at its purest when applying guidance to others.