Nothing: The non-existence of anything including matter, energy, reason, purpose, pattern of logic, etc.
Michael Gray
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Nothing: The non-existence of anything including matter, energy, reason, purpose, pattern of logic, etc.
Michael Gray
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November 22, 2008 at 4:25 am
Kevin Wyckoff
What is knowing nothing? To know nothing is both a blessing and a way of thinking. To actually know nothing is blessing because you know no pain, no suffering, and no boundaries. To know nothing in the philosophical form is a way of thinking, and the ultimate sense of understanding. People who know nothing will protect what little they do know, not because it is wrong but because it defines them and there life choices, without it they are nothing. Nothing is something, which has no existence, value, substance, or importance. Nothing in itself is a paradox because it is something, and in that case should be considered of great value, and great importance.
What is knowing and knowing nothing? To know is to understand, and comprehend. Intelligence is the measurement of what one knows, and therefore can never be truly accurate. To know nothing is a infinitum of knowledge and experience. The naïve know everything and the intelligent know nothing. It isn’t the fact that the naïve no everything, it is that they no longer wish to learn more. The intelligent on the other hand believe that what they already know is nothing compared to what is still left out there to learn. To be completely blind or wilfully ignorant is completely different from not knowing. Not knowing allows you to pick up and begin to learn what you do not already know. While being wilfully ignorant means to believe that what you know will suffice even though it is dreadfully insufficient or futile to continue without learning more. Knowing nothing is allowing yourself to be open to others ideas, experiences, and knowledge, it is allowing yourself to understand, and finally to be at ease with yourself knowing you will never know everything.
What are the blessings of knowing nothing? Other than not knowing the pains of the world, nothing allows for new beginnings and ideas. A child first born into this world knows nothing of its surroundings, lost almost hopeless except for the warmth of its mother. That child soon learns two key things are needs, and that for them to be fulfilled it must know how to communicate. From there on the world is no longer such a large place. A child will never try to cause harm, or hurt someone. A child will never swear unless taught to swear. A child is protected by its own ignorance. If you know no danger then you will never be in danger. Just like some of the lost tribes who have never encountered modernized life. Those tribes will never know the dangers of guns, or bombs. All they will ever care about is there families, and the well-being of their tribe. They will not gamble away their life savings, divorce, work twenty-four seven and never see their families again, go to war, and many more tragedies will never befall upon them. This is not because they are hiding from us, but because they do not know. In some ways, Ignorance is bliss because as the mind gets more complicated, it takes more to bring happiness to it. Knowing nothing provides protection, and bliss.
Why do people doubt other people’s beliefs, even though they know nothing? Other than the fact of ignorance, they were taught to believe otherwise. For example if a child is taught from an early age that if they eat chicken they will burn in hell and never see someone eat or question their not eating chicken the child will grow up to believe it. This is also true for most religions and beliefs. People used to believe the Earth was round, but until Christopher Columbus thought, he hit what seemed like Japan or China most people believed the Earth was round. There was even evidence from great philosophers/scientists prior to Columbus like, Ptolemy, Aristotle, Caliph al-Ma’mun, etc. This was not because people hated the idea and completely rejected it (though some did), but because they were brought up to believe it was flat, and only until now was their belief being questioned. This is because if your entire existence was based on one thing and you where told that that one thing was false you would go great lengths no matter how false it truly was to keep it true to you. This is similar to the case of evolution, religious people believe that it is not real and the idea should be completely rejected. Darwin himself had struggles believe it at the start, and even in the end, his wife did not believe him. People doubt other peoples beliefs because they are taught not to believe it, it defies there way of thinking, and/or if what they believe is false there world would fall apart completely.
In conclusion, knowing nothing is believing in something even when it’s false because it defines your existence. Knowing nothing provides people with protection, and bliss. Lastly it is allowing yourself to be open with other peoples ideas, experiences, and knowledge, allowing yourself to understand, and to be at ease with not knowing everything. Knowledge is like time in space it can go on forever, but only if you let it. To know nothing allows you to achieve true enlightenment.
November 24, 2008 at 3:36 am
Anonymous
Hey Kevin,
Interesting comment. It seems like when your talking about nothing you mean mostly nothing. The quote is defining nothing without even a hint of anything.
You definetely have a point that if you’re taught a certain way (for example by your parents) you tend to believe it. However, I think that alot of that happens when you’re young and after getting older you tend to fall away from your parents beliefs.
When you say religious people are you refering to Christians? Alot of Christians do not believe in evolution. Some do believe it and I geuss they believe that God created the first amoeba and then it evolved. I am not sure. However, in my opinion evolution tends to clash with Christianity and therefore there is a higher percentage of Christians who don’t believe it. I am actually one of those Christians who doesn’t believe that one species can evolve into another species, but that creatures can only evolve within species. For example, different races can develop but a bird cannot turn into a completely different species like a fish or vise versa. The world is just too complex for that.
Oh man you are sooo right. It is amazing how little the most knowledgable person in the world actually knows. And yet at the very same time we know so much and the amount we know increases all the time.
Thanks for the comment,
Michael