we don't know anything

We Don’t Know Anything

we don't know anything

We think we know, but we don’t, and no matter how hard we try, we’ll never know.

How many times in your life have you known something, only to later find out that you actually didn’t know it? That you were wrong? This has happened to me thousands of times, and I admit it will continue to happen to me as long as I think I know things.

I was wrong about Santa Claus (and I’ll never forget the heartbreak when my mom told me the truth on my 26th birthday). I was wrong to think consciousness ends when we die (and still might be wrong to think it doesn’t). I was wrong to think (name redacted) didn’t want to have sex with me. Come to find out, she was just shy like I was. Damn it!

The trouble occurs when we really believe we know things (still happens to me most of the time). We believe we know the truth, and that those who disagree are wrong. The truths we think we know are usually not how reality is, but actually just our beliefs about reality.

Often, what we take as external validation for our beliefs is in fact an outward projection of our beliefs. If we believe people are bad, we will constantly see the bad in the world and say, “See? Look at that. I told you I was right.” Our perception, filtered through our beliefs, will focus on things that validate our beliefs to the exclusion of things that would contradict them, when in reality, it’s all out there. We just choose, consciously or subconsciously, to see some of it and ignore the rest.

The point is this: when we realize we know nothing, and I’m not talking about when we just flippantly say, “I know nothing,” but when we have that deep realization that we really don’t know anything, then our awareness is heightened.

Instead of seeing something and letting our assumptions and supposed knowledge tell us what it is, what it’s about, that we know it, we can look at the world with a fresh perspective, as if we’re aliens visiting for the first time (something I pretend I am all the time – highly recommended). We can see all there is instead of what we believe there is or should be.

A new, beautiful fantasy world presents itself. A world on which inconceivable amounts of strange vegetation thrive automatically that give rise to inconceivable numbers of exotic critters, each playing its part, all of which we can, through a heightened awareness, take for what it is: magic.

It’s natural to try to understand things. I try, utterly in vain, to understand why my dogs do the things they do. I try to understand what Earth’s place is in the physical universe. I try to understand how and why plants thrive when and where they do. While it’s always fun to ponder, it’s usually more enlightening not to ponder, not to try to understand, but just to observe.

And occasionally, in those moments of pure observation without judgment, without trying to understand, the deepest level of understanding will voluntarily present itself in the form of a feeling unable to be put into words.

Comments

12 responses to “We Don’t Know Anything”

  1. […] truth is that we really don’t know shit. The danger occurs when we start to think we know more than we do, which is probably the case with most people. Yes, your humble correspondent included. What happens […]

  2. […] truth is, I didn’t, and I still don’t. Neither do you, reader. We don’t know shit. No one knows what’s best for others. It’s for them to figure out, and if they never do, […]

  3. […] complex creatures, we are the smartest, as far as we know. But in the grander scheme of things, we really don’t know shit. Not only do we not know shit, but we’re incapable of comprehending the grander scheme of […]

  4. Jeroen Avatar
    Jeroen

    What do I think? This whole place is indead an outward projection of our minds and it doesn’t exist in reality. Trying to understand the outer world is like a dog chasing his own tail. We will never get it. Dropping the willing part and pick up the being part seems like an answer to this. Accept all that appears to be without any fear or resistance and all what remains is infinite whisdom and peace. Timeless, effortless, formless, soundless, colorless, without limit, without beginning or end and pure non-dualism. This my dear brothers and sisters cannot be discribed with words and not be comprehended by our minds. But is real and perhaps the only thing that is actualy real… Who knows? I don’t.

    1. Chaki Kobayashi Avatar

      Actually, I have seen a dog catch his tail before 😉

      Well said though. As long as we’re here, we are unable to understand the wider reality with our limited minds. However, sometimes it’s fun to try.

      1. Jeroen Avatar
        Jeroen

        Trying to understand is rather addictive and our thougts keep the illusory reality in “place”.

        To add some to descartes; I think, therefor I am the matrix…

  5. dan Avatar
    dan

    chop off your finger and let me know if it feels real.

    1. Chaki Kobayashi Avatar

      No thanks! Interestingly, I’ve had lucid dream and astral projection experiences in which I knew my physical body was asleep, but those realities I experienced felt even more “real” than this waking life. Sensation and emotions were heightened beyond anything I’ve experienced in physical life. So what’s really real then???

  6. dan Avatar
    dan

    Even the smartest person in the World doesn’t know the answer, not even billions of minds put together knows “the answer”. What a strange place we live in whatever/wherever this/that is. You think with all the billions of planets so called millions/billions of miles away we could easily spot some type of life considering how many living things exist on our tiny little planet, sounds pretty eerie to me. What is space? Sounds like a bunch of EMPTY space to me. Space doesn’t even seem real to me, not to mention its not suitable for humans or animals, don’t see anything living out there………..so much space and no life……………hmmmmmmmmm…..sounds like a fun place.

    1. Chaki Kobayashi Avatar

      Well in a sense, everything is space. Solidity is an illusion (http://www.dingtwist.com/illusion-of-solidity/).

      I always come back to the point of, “Well, I’ll never understand it, so although it’s fun to wonder, I may as well just enjoy myself in the meantime.”

      🙂

  7. Pushkar Lakhe Avatar

    Thank you for writing this beautiful article and giving me words to express my thoughts . I truly appreciate your work .

  8. […] “No, I don’t mean the stuff.” I gave her hand a squeeze. I got to hold hands with a woman, you guys. Make fun of me all you want, but that is more reassuring and comforting to a mostly lonely person than you might guess. “I mean you’ve been coming to visit me twice a day and helping me shower and kissing me and we haven’t talked in pretty much forever. It’s like, I can’t even … I don’t know what this is.” I squeezed her hand again and smiled weakly. Sometimes you just gotta admit that you don’t know what the hell is going on. […]