Day 241 - No offence, but...

 First, let me say that I don't have a good argument for anything I'm about to write - and neither do you have a good argument to counter, though we can try in earnest.

Second, I don't think I've had solid reasoning behind anything I've ever thought or said or written - and neither have you, yet we continue to confabulate, trying to get something 'right' just so a sense of self feels, well, solid.

Nonetheless, I like to write and this is what I've chosen to write today:

The common denominator in every single dispute or argument is that each side is certain that they are correct in their ideas about whatever it is. "I know the science!" - yet, science isn't done yet... is it? "I've done my research!" - yet, how much research can one possibly do in the vast still-unknowable space we inhabit? 

The only certain thing is uncertainty. The only constant is change. And all those paradoxical things...

When I enter a query on my computer/phone, a whole bunch of catered answers come up. When someone else queries the same thing, a whole other bunch of catered answers come up on their computer/phone. There will be overlapping articles and pieces by entities that have paid to have them pop up, so maybe we should forget about those, or not, you do you. The point is, our individualistic ideas have been formed not by truisms, meaning the obvious stuff, but by truths, truths being unique usable understandings that work for a particular individual or group. We can forgo truisms at this point because most of us agree that 2+2=4, do unto others, and so on.

After all the truisms, it gets tricky because truth is variable and depends on the particular environments, family lives, social status, experiences, et al - which are as varied as there are people. My truth is not your truth, though I may try to convince you that my truth is the truth or even a truth, it's not the whole truth, and neither is yours.

Let's say that you buy organic food, donate money to the less fortunate, recycle and post politically correct/enlightening articles -- What are you really doing to change anything? These are the actions of someone who is not trying their best, but trying to show that they're trying their best. I'm not saying don't do these things, but you do them to make yourself feel better, not for the greater good and not to make the world a better place, because as we've seen, nothing has changed.

Let's say that you fight for everyone's freedom, work long, hard hours, never take money from the government, and stand up for heritage -- What are you really doing to change anything? These are the actions of someone who is not trying their best, but trying to show that they're trying their best. I'm not saying don't do these things, but you do them to make yourself feel better, not for the greater good and not to make the world a better place, because as we've seen, nothing has changed. 

What is trying your best? Perhaps it's also as varied as there are people - perhaps it's something like refraining from thinking we know more than anyone else - by understanding that our views are not the only views - that you might be wrong - that you might be right, but others may not be wrong - that there is no way utopia can exist here with so many different ideas about it... Buying organic and hoisting 'freedom' signs seem laughable in comparison.

What now?

We can stop pretending that we know stuff, though it is fun to learn and try to figure things out, there will never be definite answers to the problems we face on this planet, only speculations with what we know in the ever-changing now, and as we've seen time and again, new information arises and then some people change their ideas, and others stick with the old ideas, over and over again... What if there really are no problems, other than the ones we create? We can find the common denominator between us -- which is to admit that we do not know how to make the world a better place. We may know bits and pieces that work in some places for some people, so off we go forcing our ideas in places where those ideas don't work. We Don't Know and We Never Have. We can agree to disagree and move forward in what's best for each of us as individuals, live and let live and all that jazz, but really, even the best thinkers in the history of the planet can't agree.

And then,

We have to sit in a space of utter futility and meaninglessness until we die. It's depressing, but there it is: The Crux of Existence. Own that, and know that we're all in the same boat, as it were. Once we can sit there owning it until our chests are about to explode, we can then find ways to deal with it, and maybe that's the whole point, maybe there is no point.

Once you're there, in the crux of existence, another crisis appears, or perhaps it's the crux of the crux, the universal crisis spurring the inconsequential actions and arguments we think are valuable, bravely putting on a knowledgeable attitude to, again, make ourselves feel better... 

The Fear of Death. Why do most people think they want to live forever? Life is painfully ongoing until it isn't, and who knows what happens after that? No one. It doesn't matter what anyone believes, no one knows what happens after life. Dying in pain can be alleviated with drugs or meditation or whatever, so it's not really about pain. The fear of death is about the fear of becoming non-existent after having existed. Think about it like this instead: You can't choose, but you have to live forever, here, in this body... Maybe some people would like that, but I'm a hard no. Existence beyond this place? I'm definitely into that in whatever pleasant ways my imagination can come up with, but who knows? No one.

The somewhat good news is that we may no longer be beholden to our intellectual ideas of what's right and what's wrong, what should work and what shouldn't work, the shackles of knowing become a kind of freedom in simply being, and with that may come at least some relief. We're all gonna die and we all really don't know what's going on - that's it. As desolate as that may be, it's true for all of us, whether admitted or not. Then, it's just about how to live with that basic and deep cluelessness.

My way of dealing with it is experimenting with my own consciousness and creativity, your way of dealing may be different than mine, and so be it, but let's try not to tell others how to deal with their personal existential dread, or how to save the planet, or how to govern correctly - We're all just people, peopling. Join a cause, enter politics, buy organic, hoist the 'freedom' sign, do whatever you want if it makes you feel better, but don't think it's making an ounce of difference to the conundrum of life together in this world - everything unfolds as it does, and there's nothing you can do, or not do, to stop it.