Sunday, February 06, 2011

uncertainty's promise

Guardian | We live in an age intolerant of doubt. Communicating uncertainty is well nigh impossible across fields as diverse as politics, religion and science. There's a fear of doubt abroad too. It's most palpable, at the moment, whenever there's news of economic uncertainty. Waves of nervousness ripple through financial markets and supermarkets alike. And yet, at the same time, few would deny that only the fool believes the future is certain. And who doesn't fear that most shadowy figure of our times, the fundamentalist – with their deadly, steadfast convictions?

The confusion is understandable. Doubt is unsettling. It's not for nothing that old maps inscribed terra incognita with the words "here be dragons". Further, the tremendous success of science, and the transformation of our lives by technology, screens us from many of the troubling uncertainties that our ancestors must have been so practised in handling.

But are we losing what might be called the art of doubt too? For, in truth, without doubt there is no exploration, no creativity, no deepening of our humanity – which is why the individual who claims to know something beyond all doubt is a person to shun, not emulate. Stick to what you know and you'll find some security, but you'll also find yourself stuck in a rut. Learn to welcome the unknown, to embrace its thrill, and new worlds might open up before you.

5 comments:

Uglyblackjohn said...

So by embracing the unknown we grow in faith?

Uglyblackjohn said...

But in doing so would one require 'faith'?

CNu said...

No, as with any science, merely the desire to know and to experience. http://www.amazon.com/Sacred-Science-King-Pharaonic-Theocracy/dp/0892812222

nanakwame said...

Doc seems to have an aversion to the word faith, but its etymologist is not necessary linked to religion today, then he shows a book about Egyptian Theocracy. I find that funny. I believe that Theocracy (organized thought) created by human minds is the problem, not the impulse towards daily religious rituals or sacredness. And any literate or experience person knows that can mean all kinds of things today, for w/o irrationalism, we would not be us. Even PKD, believed in spontaneous religion!!!

We replaced the simulation of hierarchy of the cosmic, with objects that look like us. I wear a ring with the moon and the star, which symbols faithfulness in old traditions, but, it is the faithfulness of Spirit and I. The ultimate g_d for me is Non Serviam (Stanislew Lem) The Perfect Vacuum. It also was symbolized as a perfect womb or dark waters in early Africa. Without faith, I would be dead.
http://themindi.blogspot.com/2007/02/chapter-19-non-serviam.html
1
a : allegiance to duty or a person : LOYALTY b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2
a (1) : belief and TRUST in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust

akin to Latin fidere to trust 13th Century, Middle English
This is a very good subject for mature debates, starting from The Pharaoh. Dr. Diop has a great study about it. I have been studying this very deeply.

There is no surer sign of decay in a country than to see the rites of religion held in contempt.
Niccolo Machiavelli

nanakwame said...

I find this interesting too, in my studies

http://www.livescience.com/health/090930-spirituality.html
Spiritual Women Have More Sex

Why early in our days, we were told to go to church, for the women were there. LOL

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