December 15, 2007
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What an overwhelming comfort it is to know that the words we are reading actually indicate some original thought. After all, anyone can say anything. You can say this or that; but it doesn’t have to mean anything. I could assemble some selection of words I know into some certain order, but that doesn’t mean that the meaning presented by those words is true.
When we realize how easy it is to spread misinformation, or that insincerity is possible at all, how dearly precious the truth then seems in comparison. The words of other people cannot in any way be confirmed to be honest. They may be speaking the truth; they may not. There is no way to tell. Since everything they think only exists within their own mind, there is no way to see if the truth presented by their speech aligns with their thought. Thus, honesty, when we somehow approach its limit by trusting another person, is a most desirable thing.
Staring at a room full of people shows the oddness of how people think to themselves, and only they can see their thoughts. In a classroom I look ’round at all the quiet students and realize that to themselves they exist, and they can see their own thoughts, and the same is true of me. It is a startling thing. In thinking this I want to see all of their thoughts, but I want for no one to know mine. What if we could see others’ thoughts? What a frightening reality the world would become, where we would no longer want to be around any people at all. Continually seeing others’ thoughts would bring the ultimate misery by showing all that we wished we had never known.
Thus, we see the relationship between thoughts, speech, and honesty. How much we reveal of ourselves is completely up to us. If one thinks much and speaks little, his life is unknown. If one thinks little and speaks honestly, his life is very well known. Only I can know how much of myself people actually know through what I have said. The rest remains hidden in the compartment of my mind as the hidden reality of my life, something no one else knows or could ever know.
As it remains, we are terribly ignorant of the greater reality. We know our thoughts, and that is all. With every passing thought of every single human we become more and more ignorant of all that is. Conversely, with every passing thought I have that no one can see the world becomes increasingly ignorant of who I am. All we see is what has been revealed out of free choice by other people. The rest remains hidden in the huge repository of unspoken thoughts. History only shows us what was revealed through speech and deed; every historical figure really thought much, much more.
But then, what can we even really know, even if we are honest? We are moving from place to place, always changing in emotions and opinions. We are in a constant flux of being. I am perpetually doubting myself and whether or not I actually think what I think I do. For if we believe one thing, will we still believe it should the variables change? And if we are in ignorance of all the variables, how do we know we really believe what we think we do? If our beliefs are contingent on the circumstances we are in, does that not make them fickle and shallow in nature?
To illustrate this point, suppose that you are an hour away from your death. In that circumstance it becomes obvious that the passing winds of life and all the daily schemes you had set about are now gone and irrelevant; all that stands before you is the truth of everything. There are no people to impress, no rules to follow in deciding, no other plans to clutter your brain. Finally you realize: there is only one truth, and I am about to meet it head on, as was my fate this whole time. Life is a date with looking for the truth, and death is the actual meeting. Now you realize what you really are, because death demands our honesty. You have one hour. You must decide. What awaits you?
Life was but an illusion of having an infinite supply of time. Every day would occur just as the one before. When waking up we are not surprised, “Hey! I’m still here! Wow, I didn’t die!” Oppositely, we are rather unamused and unthrilled every morning. Life becomes constant. It is here every day. Death may happen in stories and in far off countries and homes, but it apparently has no claim over my life. Somewhere in the blurry future it might, but it is not reality right now. And thus we deceive ourselves by refusing to admit that death is reality every second of our life, and that we are journeying into its core every second. Since we know not when we will die, we journey without knowing at what moment it will rise on us.
Now the fog has lifted and reality has settled in before you: death was inevitable the whole time, no matter how much it seemed the opposite. What your life was the whole time is now blatantly obvious: you, your thoughts, and death. That is all there ever was. You are an hour away, and you must decide what it is you think will happen. All other thoughts you ever had are but tiny blips of trivia next to the giant thought of death.
So we see that honesty is not much found in daily life; only when confronting death is the truth extracted from us. Is there a thing we actually are? As we stare death in the face, what are we to confront it? Do we have an actual existence? Is there a realness to us that transcends death? Are we simply material that will “stop working” because of death? Honesty is all we are in the end, but is there something truly there for us to be? If we choose to be something, does that something have an indicative parallel in a universal reality?
Our thoughts are this reality we all experience; musn’t they mean something? I have a compartment of knowledge called “my life” and it either has some sort of ultimate weight to it, as a force I manage that is in an overarching reality, or it an invention of epic proportions that does not have the meaning it thinks it has.
Comments (12)
Wow…if I may ask ….how old are you??
Brilliant writing and deep thoughts!!
When death comes to me, I don’t want to know it…I don’t want to have to think about it like my mother did. I God to swiftly take me away with my only thought would be eternal bliss.
ryc: I found this one thru googling, “booksales in Virginia” (my state). But my hubby says I can find a booksale or bookshop just be smelling the air. Maybe that’s my super power.~ L
This post: The passages of Ecclesiastes that make a reference to “Under the sun” in a nutshell. Or at least some of it.
ryc: But can’t that be said about all words? Words are verbal symbols of information, and no one expects or believes that the word itself has the value of the thing which is being made reference to. Some will say so if you catch them in tricky laugauge, it must be said, but no one expects the number “2″ to cause all “2-ness” to disappear if it’s erased on a chalkboard. My own understanding is that anything which is commonly experienced can be communicated.
TY for a well thought and written approach to some burning questions and observations. Very Well Done.
from some weird stranger you never met.
what a great thought provoking post… thanks for sharing
Great thoughts. (Wonder what thoughts you didn’t share.
) I think there’s more truth to every day reality than what we see in it.
I hope that what I write is believable; because it is very honest and meaningful. but i do realize that a lot of people say things just to say them, not to express them. i take it that this is meaningful.
It’s quite interesting how things that you write about have entered my mind more than once in this past year. I’ve become extremely aware of everything because of one little incident, and I think I will never be as I once was: unaware and indifferent about life.
I think a lot now. To be honest, sometimes I want to stop thinking because I have the tendancy to scare myself. The only thing I hope for is that someday I can type out my thoughts so that they aren’t stuck inside me anymore.
I really like how you right, and I find your opinion very interesting… A person with a PhD in Cognitive Science came into our AP Psych class to talk about his major and opinions, he brought up some of the same points you did… A very interesting topic.
Do you believe that every living thing goes on to another life? Some argue that cats and dogs do. Many believe that if we can go on, then so can animals.
Fair enough.
But what about mosquitos? Do they go on after they die? Most would say no. What about bacteria? Most would also say no.
So how come it is easy for us to dismiss an afterlife for smaller, less complex beings, yet when it comes to us we cannot imagine how we could just end? It’s because there is an illusion that we will live forever. This illusion is in all animals, not just us. What do you think?
Hi. Thanks for coming by my site!
I really enjoyed reading this post. These are some things that I have thought about in depth before. I’m big on what ifs and wonder whys. Hope to see you around!
As always, you’ve blown my mind. It’s been a pleasure reading your posts, and I look forward to reading more in the coming year.
Merry Christmas!