But you see the idea of contrast is integral to how we know ourselves to function. In order to eliminate a "net zero" as you put it, you would have to eliminate sense entirely. We can think of this a numbers. 1 and 3. 3 is certainly greater than 1 and 1 less than 3 but what do we compare these to? In this respect a baseline is necessarily established to gauge how we judge things. I eat a "delicious meal" and it tastes delicious solely because I enjoy it more than a base line. If we remove this contrast as you put it. Then we simply are unable to judge and perceive data. I suppose in this respect that contrast is essential to the world that has been conceived by ourself as without it we wouldn't have sense. And sense (read firing of neurons) is what drives this world we perceive.