"You are all very stupid people, and you do not know anything at all." -The Black Friars' Abbott, <i

[danaeris]

I have just finished reading the novel Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman. Although his writing style has improved substantially since he wrote this book, it is, nonetheless, a very worthwhile read.

I have, of late, become particularly enamored of two truisms, two creeds, to which I wish more people would adhere. The quote above embodies one of them:

Knowledge: We think we know things. We think we understand, but the truth is that we do not know anything at all.

Action: The other is to realize that it is not enough, in this world, to accept a situation. In order to achieve happiness — or anything, for that matter — we must set goals and ideals, and strive towards them. It is not enough to wish for good governance, and to complain when it is lacking, for instance. Nothing will change, if you do not get involved.

These ultimately must be taken together. To make reasonable judgements as to what are worthy goals (and how to achieve them), we must accept our own lack of knowledge. Then we must strive to rectify that very lack, as the second creed dictates. It is a continuous cycle, requiring a constant open mind, and a constant thriving to understand the evidence life has presented you, to seek more, to form new theories accomodating what you find, and then to act on them to improve your situation.

I suspect that most who I call friends are aware of this ideal I am describing, but we all apply it imperfectly (as our humanity would imply). Some are too lazy, or too bone-weary to make much of an effort in that worthy direction. Others believe they are applying it universally, but in truth are only doing so to varying degrees.

The irony is that this is also one of the things we should question. How well am I applying these to my life? Do I really know, or am I just fooling myself? I THINK I'm doing pretty well, but I don't know for sure, so I will have to keep on trying to do it and improve upon my efforts as I identify failures.

It can be summarized thusly: Both knowledge and action are necessary. Without knowledge, you are blind, and your action will harm as much as it hurts. Without action, you are impotent, and ultimately, irrelevant. Only with both can you make a difference.

And, my friends, I enjoin you all to do so as well. Question reality. Seek truth. Realize that verifiable peer-reviewed studies (for instance) are the most reliable thing out there, but can still be wrong, or at least, misinterpreted.

Comments

[rigel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for speaking to something that has been on my mind for weeks now. I adore you.

[funos.livejournal.com]

"Man tries to make for himself in the fashion that suits him best a simplified and intelligible picture of the world; he then tries to some extent to substitute this cosmos of his for the world of experience, and thus to overcome it. This is what the painter, the poet, the speculative philosopher, and the natural scientists do, each in his own fashion. Each makes this cosmos and its construction the pivot of his emotional life, in order to find in this way peace and security which he can not find in the narrow whirlpool of personal experience."

-- Albert Einstein

[tocityguy.livejournal.com]

"The only true wisdom consists in knowing that you know nothing"
- Unknown