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There isn't a whole lot of be certain of in our world. Though you couldn't tell that from just about any discussion or debate. We're all guilty of it at times in our lives, if not any given day. Declaring passionately the "realities of the world", as we see them. Of course, as we see them that day, that month, that season of our lives. In each season, it's all too easy to forget that the construct of the world, as we imagine it and might even swear by at that time, is at least somewhat different than the prior construct of the world we believed we knew at an earlier time in our lives.
Yet, each time we reach a new construct, there's a great temptation, almost knee-jerk reaction, to outright declare that this time we have it right. Better yet, we often get caught up acting like we had it right all along. But have we? And will we ever?
From humble roots where many of us believed in Santa Claus or tooth fairies or something of the sort, we grew. Once we realized that was a silly myth, quite a few among us were quick to pick on the smaller kids that still believed, as if we'd never been there. We were just children and this is understandable, yet it's not necessarily something we grow out of. We've all surely observed it in others. That person that comes into the light of a subject - or what seems like the light - and suddenly acts towards us and all others like they've been there all along. Yet, do we observe it in ourselves. Can we recollect the many things in the decades of our lives that we were sure about, only to be replaced by other things we were sure about, only to be replaced again?
I think this is one of the most important requirements for us to truly grow intellectually and emotionally as people, and as a world of human beings. The truth and the question alike is, how much can we really know, being so new not just as persons, but as an existing species in a seemingly ancient universe? Are any of us, a mere spec on the line of what we call time, more than a third grader when addressing any given subject matter, in the eyes of the universe? At this point in my life, I don't believe so.
We're all just in various early stages of learning, it seems. At least if we look at how many times we've been wrong about being right, both through human history and our own lives. Yet one can't really tell from the words that tend to come out of our mouths. Certainly on almost any subject we're passionate about, frequent judgement of others, a poor memory for our misjudgements of the past. If we could heal ourselves of such knee-jerk certainty, I think we'd all learn more, pass a greater frequency of real human advancement to the next generations, and we'd certainly get along better in the process.
Then again, maybe I'm wrong, and I'll change my mind in the next season. Yet how little mankind - and, simply, someone such as I - does know has been one of the few constants that has remained stable through all of my changes and growths, even before I knew it to be so. And, of all the many things I could believe, I can find none more reasonable to take a chance on than this.
Yet, each time we reach a new construct, there's a great temptation, almost knee-jerk reaction, to outright declare that this time we have it right. Better yet, we often get caught up acting like we had it right all along. But have we? And will we ever?
From humble roots where many of us believed in Santa Claus or tooth fairies or something of the sort, we grew. Once we realized that was a silly myth, quite a few among us were quick to pick on the smaller kids that still believed, as if we'd never been there. We were just children and this is understandable, yet it's not necessarily something we grow out of. We've all surely observed it in others. That person that comes into the light of a subject - or what seems like the light - and suddenly acts towards us and all others like they've been there all along. Yet, do we observe it in ourselves. Can we recollect the many things in the decades of our lives that we were sure about, only to be replaced by other things we were sure about, only to be replaced again?
I think this is one of the most important requirements for us to truly grow intellectually and emotionally as people, and as a world of human beings. The truth and the question alike is, how much can we really know, being so new not just as persons, but as an existing species in a seemingly ancient universe? Are any of us, a mere spec on the line of what we call time, more than a third grader when addressing any given subject matter, in the eyes of the universe? At this point in my life, I don't believe so.
We're all just in various early stages of learning, it seems. At least if we look at how many times we've been wrong about being right, both through human history and our own lives. Yet one can't really tell from the words that tend to come out of our mouths. Certainly on almost any subject we're passionate about, frequent judgement of others, a poor memory for our misjudgements of the past. If we could heal ourselves of such knee-jerk certainty, I think we'd all learn more, pass a greater frequency of real human advancement to the next generations, and we'd certainly get along better in the process.
Then again, maybe I'm wrong, and I'll change my mind in the next season. Yet how little mankind - and, simply, someone such as I - does know has been one of the few constants that has remained stable through all of my changes and growths, even before I knew it to be so. And, of all the many things I could believe, I can find none more reasonable to take a chance on than this.
