Bit by Bit - Chapter 2, Part 26

Trey Smith

Nieh Ch'ueh asked Wang Ni, "Do you know what all things agree in calling right?"

"How would I know that?" said Wang Ni.

"Do you know that you don't know it?"

"How would I know that?"

"Then do things know nothing?"

"How would I know that? However, suppose I try saying something. What way do I have of knowing that if I say I know something I don't really not know it? Or what way do I have of knowing that if I say I don't know something I don't really in fact know it? Now let me ask you some questions. If a man sleeps in a damp place, his back aches and he ends up half paralyzed, but is this true of a loach? If he lives in a tree, he is terrified and shakes with fright, but is this true of a monkey? Of these three creatures, then, which one knows the proper place to live? Men eat the flesh of grass-fed and grain-fed animals, deer eat grass, centipedes find snakes tasty, and hawks and falcons relish mice. Of these four, which knows how food ought to taste? Monkeys pair with monkeys, deer go out with deer, and fish play around with fish. Men claim that Mao-ch'iang and Lady Li were beautiful, but if fish saw them they would dive to the bottom of the stream, if birds saw them they would fly away, and if deer saw them they would break into a run. Of these four, which knows how to fix the standard of beauty for the world? The way I see it, the rules of benevolence and righteousness and the paths of right and wrong are all hopelessly snarled and jumbled. How could I know anything about such discriminations?"
~ Burton Watson translation ~

I know. We each say this two-word phrase (or something similar) several times per day.

We're intelligent creatures. We have the ability to discern right from wrong and good from bad. Many of us hold college degrees and we are extremely well read. We study and facts roll off of our tongues.

But what do we really know? Sure, I can tell you that the state capitol of California is Sacramento, but so what? I can't tell you why life exists, what happens when we die or if this life is real or an illusion. When it comes to the most basic elements of existence, we don't know a damn thing.

We know so little that we don't even know what we don't know!

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