The human understanding is like a false mirror, which, receiving rays irregularly, distorts and discolors the nature of things by mingling its own nature with it.
~Francis Bacon
Life’s beauty lies in one simple truth: we generate the questions of the cosmos; and we can find the answers to the questions we create…most of the time. It’s human nature to find effortless satisfaction in breaking apart that which we cannot explain to try to find an answer to the ultimately unanswerable questions. It’s somewhat of a childish egotism to posit that we hold all the answers. Everything in our material existence is infinitely complex, yet insignificantly isolatable at the fundamental core. There are some things in nature to which we will be able to uncover one definitive answer. Take for example the crashing of waves on the ocean shore; it would be inconceivably unfeasible to assume that, as elementary beings, we would ever be able to calculate a solitary moment of waves in the water or that specific instant that they boom on the shore. It’s impossible to slow down or stop time in order to analyze the wave; yes, we can discern the central elements of it, but we will never have an absolute understanding of its entire existence.
At our stage of evolution, there are certain things that a higher power designates as too intricate for us to know and accept without refute and chaos. True, there will always be an aspect of chaos in our nature; but it will never reach its height as long as we keep in mind that there will always be an indubitable amount of uncertainty. The products of such unknowns will forever be encouraging and constructive as they keep beings thirsting, constantly active in a pursuance of auxiliary knowledge.
Each organization maintains an attractive chaos, a striking air of the unpredictable. And vice versa, each chaos is delightfully, and paradoxically, structured. No being (to my limited knowledge) has all the answers to existence. All we can do is accept this as the one truth to be utterly accurate, and that, in essence, we are all identical in this one core facet of our framework.
3 comments:
*Applause* Sounds accurate to me. In fact, one might posit that accepting the possible error in every theory, and thus, accepting the possible error in ourselves (falliblism) is necessary for wisdom in all humans (and, perhaps, all sapient beings).
Not knowing is in our nature--it's what allows us to attempt to know. As attractive as an omniscient referent might be (something that intrinsically understands the universe, and that we can pose question to in the way we might a parent, and receive an infallible answer to any quandary), I rather enjoy the romance of our situation--that wisdom need be humble in the face of verifying impersonal reality. I can't imagine an omniscient pillar needing to be humble about very much of anything (nor curious, for that matter).
I must take a moment to commend your prose. Outside of literature (that is to say, with unpublished writers), I have honestly not once encountered such articulate, clear, and maneuverable writing. Cheers.
Fallibilism beats radical skepticism every time: "The one truth is that we don't have all the truth" is so much better than "the one truth is that there is no truth."
For lack of a more intellectual phrase...wow!! I've never gotten such appreciation for my writing. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your acknowledgement! And the compliment can swing right back to you. The thoughts and ideas both on your blog and in your comments are profoundly intelligible, dare i say prodigious. I anticipate reading more of your work.
Post a Comment