What we know

By “knowing” lets say we mean unequivocally, without any possible doubt ever, that “this is so” Knowing a thing to be true therefore.. If we cannot say unequivocally, without any doubt, ever. That’s doubt, that’s a theory, that’s well we don’t now for sure. Not knowing.

Now lets we forget -“the modern world” supposedly rest on facts – that is things that are known to be true (God help us)

So what do we know?

What don’t we know?

Well: -

We don’t know why we are here.

We don’t know why there is an earth, a solar system, a universe.

We don’t know if “why” is the right question?

We don’t even know if there is a question involved.

We don’t know what we are made of, fundamentally.

We don’t know what “life” is.

We don’t know what gravity is.

We don’t know what time is.

We don’t know how our hereditary system works (we thought we did… and, then we didn’t-its not just D.N.A)

We don’t know why we think.

We don’t know what thinks when we say “I think”

I think therefore I am – we don’t know who or what” I” is in that sentence

We don’t know how to make grass, or light, or life, unless we have grass or light or life as a beginning point (which is sort of redundant – but a lot of people call it science)

We don’t even know for sure if American Idol is rigged .

So in terms of important stuff – we don’t know

No wonder we are so angry

Well we do know: -

Bits and pieces.

And that’s not a bad thing – that’s how it is. The question is, whoever foisted this “truth is a fact “ thing on us?

We are, on the whole ,a petty mean spirited bunch and when given the chance through a system that says the accumulation of “things” is the goal, we display our pettiness and meanness to its full extent.And at the same time try to create a “truth” and a “justice” for ourselves, which are made up words who”s definitions change with our desire to accumulate overwhelms the last definition we made up. Then  we say, the defintions are “obsolete” “out-of-touch with the modern world” “a false tradition” or whatever else we feel like making up.

In the meantime we fill our emptiness with “knowledge” (for knowledge see above)

Why?

Why do we have this need to fill our emptiness? Ah now that is the question to be answered. Not by science or economics or any other “learned” theory. That is to be answered, fully and completely, by us, one by one and in silence.

That is a question that can be answered fully, I do believe. Even if that is not the right question, even if there is no question. There is an answer

But I could be wrong

How to Save the world

Possibly my favourite news story of 2007 was the one about how the government of Scotland spent about $250,000 searching for a new slogan and then chose “Welcome to Scotland”

Well done Scotland, I say. Who says the Scots are cheap?”Welcome to Scotland” is arguably the finest fragment of writing to come out of 2007. “Welcome to Scotland” is timeless and elegant. Its evocative of all things Scottish and welcoming. Everything about the words say “welcome to Scotland”

I thought about Scotland’s choice when the province of Saskatchewan briefly considered abandoning its old wheatsheaf logo in favour of something new and dynamic that would more accurately reflect contemporary Saskatchewan.

I feel they should learn from the Scottish experience and listen to the simplicity of the slogan – and then do the obvious – start welcoming people to Saskatchewan with the slogan “Welcome to Scotland”.

Adopting “Welcome to Scotland” would be the easiest way to say “Welcome to the new, postmodern, practically wheatfree Saskatchewan”. It would be like saying welcome to the world’s irony basket.

“Welcome to Scotland” is all the really needed to be said in 2007 – and not just at the six airports of Scotland. Eventually I am confident the rest of Canada will opt to save a little bother and a lot of cash, take Saskatchewan’s lead and adopt the slogan “Welcome to Scotland” as well. After that its only a matter of time before this one simple slogan from Scotland changes the world.

The next time I fly into France, I hope that there is a sign at the arrivals gate that reads “Welcome to Scotland”. Everyone coming through the gate would smile, unless maybe they’re Scottish “Hey that’s the same sign they have in Canada” travellers would say “I get it”

And the words “Welcome to Scotland” and all they might come to express about human fallibility, our vanity and our ridiculousness, would bring us closer together. The words “Welcome to Scotland” could unite us all around the world if we’d let them. Ultimately when a traveler arrived in Iran and saw the sign saying “Welcome to Scotland” he or she would know that the world was now just a little bit safer.

(article in Globe and Mail)

What if -everything we thought we knew – isnt?

Information age  it is called – this “age” we are in. I think ‘We’re Clutching at Straws Age ‘- would be better.

All this “stuff” we are supposed to know – or at least have access to. I mean whats left to know – really

After all, nowadays, in our enlightened knowledge society we know what stuff is made of right? Only foolish backward people in history thought everything was atoms – right? We know. Its..and I quote for clarity -

“An elementary particle truly has no substructure, it is one of the basic building blocks of the universe from which all other particles are made. In the Standard Model, the quarks, leptons, and gauge bosons are elementary particles.”

Great – Now these particles exist right? I mean for sure, they’ve been”seen” and touched and examined right?…no?

I quote again  “However, the Standard Model is widely considered to be a provisional theory rather than a truly fundamental one, since it is fundamentally incompatible with Einstein’s general relativity.”

Ok so not any of the above then.

Wait maybe its the “still undiscovered Higg boson” (the Higgs boson is my favorite)

And where is string theory in all this (its not particles stupid its strings). And anyway isn’t physics all about waves not particles these days?

Ok bottom line what do we know for sure makes our world…..(silence)…(whisper) – we dont actually know.

Ok an easier one then – what makes us work – you know us , humans?

Well genes right? D. N.A right?

Well again not so easy you see the word “gene” was made up to sort of hang some theories on. (Bad news for bio-tech and gene making corps – but good news for getting scientific grants and funding) And the DNA? Well its there , they think , but its doesn’t control characteristics or hereditary values. Its not the “building block” of how we are – there’s something else does that – its just no-one knows what it is.

So, we don’t know what stuff is, fundamentally, and we don’t know why you have that nose and I have this cough. So what do we know again?

Well The great wall of china is the only man made object you can see from space – wrong

They use to think the world was flat – but we know better – who actually ever thought that? – no-one – it was propoganda, as is most of our “known facts”

The price of oil per barrel goes up on the stock market so the price of oil naturally goes up at the pump. Why? price of oil per barrel on the stock market is a bunch of gamblers and speculators trying to make a buck – it has nothing to do with the cost to Exxon of getting the stuff out of the ground and down to your car. So why does the price change at the pump? – greed.

If you exercise and eat right you will be healthy, and live long. So why are the French and Japanese who eat badly and don’t exercise living longer than fad conscious N.Americans? (a hint – its a society thing – not an individual thing)

So what do we know, for sure?

Here’s what we know – everybody lies, we are a petty bunch, and unless a disaster happens we will cheat and steal to make ourselves look better, because self and control is all.

So wheres the hope?

Religion?

O yes and who orchestrates religion – Gods or us? Religion is the other side of science – trying to control the void.

So what is there?

Well…

There’s you and me. Can we believe in you and me, without having to have”facts” to justify that?

There’s bad things we do and there’s good things we do – and we “know” when we do something good, and we”know” when we do something self serving and corrupt. We may justify and blame elsewhere – but we” know”.

Now we need economics and food science and computer science and all that to function with such large populations, and the systems all more or less work enough to keep us stumbling along. But as to actually knowing about ourselves or anything fundamental…thats kinda up to you, and me.

Reality, your and my reality is a liitle bit deeper than some scientific tool can reach.

But we all know THAT right?

Well we’ve always known – its just we’ve become confused with “facts” (and drugs to make us thin)