đź“–The Book of Not Knowing
- authors
- Ralston, Peter
- year
- 2010
- tags
Not knowing is a prerequisite for knowing
You can’t question anything if it is already known
The only Zen you find on mountaintops is the Zen you bring up there. —Robert M. Pirsig
Possibility and limitation are two sides of the same coin. If something is possible, it is only possible if limitations are overcome.
We can have a self-image but not identify with it.
We build self-image as a survival mechanism. We notice things about ourselves and than make them a part of ourselves (i.e., start defending them)
Everything we perceive is subject to filtering by our beliefs and assumptions. Simply to get into conciousness, a thing must past these filters.
Our assumptions and beliefs represent simply as truth. Thus, preventing the state of not-knowing and further investigation and discoveries
In our culture, we name things that are of interest to us. That’s probably why we don’t have a name for not-knowing—a state that precedes the knowing. (Language)
As childs, we are praised for knowing and punished for not knowing. We grow afraid of admitting we don’t know something even to ourselves.
We want to appear as knowledgeable as we can, hiding the limits of our understanding.
“Knowledge is power”—one of the commonly acceptable truisms. And we assume that not knowing must signify weakness
A “lone wolf” is much more common symbol than the sheep
Backlinks
- đź“ť Contemplation