One thing that can be said about the human species is that we are an inquisitive bunch! We want to be in the know. It seems no matter the situation or circumstance, we ask questions and expect definitive answers.
Why doesn't this taste right?
Where do you think you're going, young man?
When do you think our new sofa will arrive?
What is that thing over there for?
How do you expect me to complete this assignment in a mere two weeks?
Questions. Questions. Questions.
In many cases, if we root around long enough, we can discover the answer[s]. As soon as one query is answered, we set off on the next issue in the hope of finding similar results.
The thing in life that frustrates us to no end is that we often are stymied in our quest for answers. There are times in which the answer we seek is right under our nose, but we simply don't or can't see it. At other times, it's more of a case that we don't like the answer we uncover and so we keep searching until we find a different answer more to our liking.
Some answers are so complex that no one person possesses the whole thing. Several people can provide part of the answer and it's up to each of us to synthesize all of them to arrive at a definitive one.
And then there is the kind of information that is unknowable. No matter how intelligent a person may be or how doggedly they pursue the "truth," it defies human comprehension and the answers we crave remain ever elusive.
One of these unknowable facts is: How did life begin? No one knows. Chances are great that no one will ever know. Understanding that we will never know causes many to create placebos to take the place of this unknown quantity. They figure it's better to believe in abject speculation instead of accepting the truth that the answer -- as far as the human mind is concerned -- doesn't exist.
Almost every civilization and society has developed a creation story. If you're interested in reading a few of these, go here and here. These stories include many aspects in common as well as elements that differentiate them. In the end, however, each one is a story -- a mythic representation of information none of us is privy to.
It should go without saying that far too many people come to believe that their version of the creation story is no fable at all. It's the complete unvarnished truth! People have and continue to revile and kill others because their creation stories differ.
In my opinion, that's really pathetic and one of the real life dangers inherent in religion.
Why doesn't this taste right?
Where do you think you're going, young man?
When do you think our new sofa will arrive?
What is that thing over there for?
How do you expect me to complete this assignment in a mere two weeks?
Questions. Questions. Questions.
In many cases, if we root around long enough, we can discover the answer[s]. As soon as one query is answered, we set off on the next issue in the hope of finding similar results.
The thing in life that frustrates us to no end is that we often are stymied in our quest for answers. There are times in which the answer we seek is right under our nose, but we simply don't or can't see it. At other times, it's more of a case that we don't like the answer we uncover and so we keep searching until we find a different answer more to our liking.
Some answers are so complex that no one person possesses the whole thing. Several people can provide part of the answer and it's up to each of us to synthesize all of them to arrive at a definitive one.
And then there is the kind of information that is unknowable. No matter how intelligent a person may be or how doggedly they pursue the "truth," it defies human comprehension and the answers we crave remain ever elusive.
One of these unknowable facts is: How did life begin? No one knows. Chances are great that no one will ever know. Understanding that we will never know causes many to create placebos to take the place of this unknown quantity. They figure it's better to believe in abject speculation instead of accepting the truth that the answer -- as far as the human mind is concerned -- doesn't exist.
Almost every civilization and society has developed a creation story. If you're interested in reading a few of these, go here and here. These stories include many aspects in common as well as elements that differentiate them. In the end, however, each one is a story -- a mythic representation of information none of us is privy to.
It should go without saying that far too many people come to believe that their version of the creation story is no fable at all. It's the complete unvarnished truth! People have and continue to revile and kill others because their creation stories differ.
In my opinion, that's really pathetic and one of the real life dangers inherent in religion.
One of the hardest things for a person to admit is "I don't know."
ReplyDeleteWhat is anything but questions? The point of something like science isn't to resolve, you ask one question just to get an answer that brings up 2 more question...and so on. Yeah, maybe the 'truth' (you didn't really define this notion of truth but I'll just adopt whatever you meant) does elude us, but I don't think anything is more wretched than not asking questions and giving up. The computer you used to write this blog was a result of countless questions, so is everything else in everyone's material and spiritual lives. So...why are you hating on question asking? lol
ReplyDeleteAlso...the masses I guess cannot be bothered to think of things greater than themselves so they set greater questions aside. It's that tiny tiny tiny minority that has the audacity to look for answers that propels the human race forward.
ReplyDeleteone wonders, tinadot, whether the masses push these questions aside in part, or mainly because, they are too busy struggling to simply live.
ReplyDeleteOne also wonders if the masses have been not only held in a state of merely scraping by, but also, for those better off, conditioned not to think, constantly fed distractions.
One must also question what "forward for the human race" really means. The technocracy? Nuclear bombs? Vast wealth in the hands of ever fewer? Have we really gone forward as a species? For every gain, there seems a loss...