Now You Know

We want to know things. And we think we do know a lot of things, which is a good thing. But if we take an honest and close look to what we actually know to be true, we know very little, almost nothing in fact.

_{Uncertain, Texas - source: Wikimedia Commons}

Man's quest for knowledge and certainty has been ongoing, probably since we walked upright on two feet. It's humanity's inquisitive nature, probing mind and opposable thumbs that allow us to discover the universe, and have set us on a path slowly replacing belief and superstition with scientific knowledge. As a species we've come a long way indeed.

But what do I know, personally? I know that I need to know things, I need certainties in my life or I would lose all feeling of comfort and safety, wouldn't be able to do any planning for the future and would perhaps even lose a sense of purpose; in an uncertain world we kling to certainties, that's what I know. Or do I?

It's so easy to mistake what we know with what we believe, what we suspect and what we've been told. Almost everything we think we know falls into one of those categories. If we take all that away, there's precious little we can be absolutely certain about; what we actually know is what we experience, and nothing more than that. Leave out everything you've read, heard, wished or told yourself to be true, and your experience is all the knowledge you're left with.

Add to that the fact that we're constantly changing, that experiences change from moment to moment, and the only true certainty in life is your experience of the present time, the certainty of now. Personally, I'm always looking for new things to learn about the universe and our place and role within it, always looking to expand my knowledge about too many different things at once. But that's all second hand knowledge; I can only learn someone else's account of their experience, often knowing nothing or very little about that someone. And even that's second hand knowledge, and might be nothing like the real person at all.

_{Flat Earth Theory - source: Wikimedia Commons}

Some time ago, I caught myself giggling about yet another "flat earther" video, wondering how on earth anyone could believe the world is flat. But I shouldn't giggle; if I'm honest, and I almost always try to be, all my knowledge about the earth's shape is second hand. I never experienced the spherical nature of our planet myself, not directly anyway. I've called my family in South America from The Netherlands at times when the sun was shining at home, while it was evening over there; that's the closest I've ever come to "proving" that the earth is a planet that revolves around it's axis once every 24 hours or so. This makes the "sphere hypothesis" highly probable, almost certain. Almost.

Don't go doubting the earth's shape now; science only deals with probabilities and it's highly probable that the earth is a sphere :-) It's only to make a point that all we truly know for 100% certainty is the here and now. Uncertainty is the default situation in all our individual lifes, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's a sense of freedom in uncertainty and doubt and it promotes having an open mind, to stay curious and being able to be convinced by plausible arguments.

And if that's not enough for you to slay the beast of uncertainty, than remember that your experience of the here and now is always true, and that "now" is everlasting; it's ALWAYS "now" ;-) So now you know.

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