When I read the directions for this years contest, I told myself that my

essay could go in one of two directions: I would either begin a never-ending

essay, or I would end my essay right here. The first option made sense
considering the fact that knowledge is infinite. The second option is based on the
fact that the realm of the unknown is concealed by its own nature; how can we
write about what we dont know if we dont know what were writing about?
But then I reconsidered. I wasnt being asked to write down what I dont
know. I was being asked to write about what I dont know. The aforementioned
detour, however, is still of value to us because it presents two valid points about
knowledge: knowledge is infinite; knowledge is unattainable. The realm of the
unknown is just as infinite and unattainable, which is why writing about one is
the same as writing about the other. Writing about the known is the same as
writing about the unknown. Let me explain.
We spend our lives trying to make sense of the world around us, delving
into subatomic worlds and peering through our vast universe, as deep and as far
as our technology allows, hoping that well hit a boundary at some point that
says, This is it. These are the limits that define what youre looking at. These are
the building blocks of your universe and the borders that delineate it. But that
has not happened yet, and it never will. Every microcosm we peer into can be a
macrocosm in it and of itself, every atom a universe of its own scale. Every
frontier we reach becomes a pathway to further discoveries. But for arguments
sake, let us pretend that the limits we look for in our physical world really do
exist, and that they will become clear to us at some point in the future. Would
this discovery enable us to say that we know our world? The building blocks of
this universe and the boundaries that limit it, were there to be any, would say as
much about our world as the walls around us say about this room. If I can recite
the number of bricks it took to build these walls and the number of square
meters these walls enclose, does that mean that I know the room? If I know
everything about this room from the names of the people who built it to the final
speck of dust that hit todays cold floor, does that mean that I know the room?
No. This means that I know about the room.
This example says something about everything we believe we know in
life. It tells us that were at a point in time where we know, or have the ability to
find out, everything there is to know about our world, but that we dont know
our world. Knowing about something is very different form knowing something.
To quote Eckhart Tolle, author of A New Earth, this is why the Buddhists say:
The finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.
Knowledge becomes more of a connection with the things in our lives, rather
than information we gather in our minds about these things.
Knowledge as connection. Everything is interconnected. We know everything.
#2:
When I read the directions for this years contest, I told myself that my
essay could go in one of two directions: I would either begin a never-ending
essay, or I would end my essay right here. The first option made sense
considering the infinite nature of knowledge. The second option is based on the
fact that the realm of the unknown is concealed by its own nature; how can we
write about what we dont know if we dont know what were writing about?
But then I reconsidered. I wasnt being asked to write down what I dont
know. I was being asked to write about what I dont know. This realization,
however, did not annul the importance of the aforementioned detour, it merely
brought two valid points about knowledge to light: knowledge is infinite;
knowledge is unattainable. The realm of the unknown is just as infinite and
unattainable, which is why writing about one is the same as writing about the
other. Let me explain.
We spend our lives trying to make sense of the world around us and of
the internal mechanisms that enable us to experience this world. We delve into
subatomic worlds and peer through our vast universe, as deep and as far as our
technology allows, hoping we will hit a boundary at some point that says, this is
it. These are the building blocks of your universe and the borders that delineate
it. But that has not happened yet, and it never will. Every microcosm we peer
into can be a macrocosm in it and of itself, every atom a universe of its own scale.
Every frontier we reach becomes a pathway for further discoveries.
But for arguments sake, let us pretend that limits to our physical world
really do exist, and that they will become clear to us at some point in the future.
Would this discovery enable us to say that we know our world? The building
blocks of this universe and the boundaries that limit it, were there to be any,
would say as much of this world as the walls around us say about this room. If I
can recite the number of bricks it took to build these walls and the number of
square meters these walls enclose, does that mean that I know the room? If I
know everything about this room from the names of the people who built it to
the final speck of dust that hit todays cold floor, does that mean that I know the
room? No. This means that I know about the room.
The proverbial finger pointing to the moon should help us distinguish
between knowing something and knowing about something. In Buddhist
teaching, an anecdote recounts the story of the student who asked his master to
enlighten him on the religious studies he analyzed for years but could not fully
understand. The master asked him to read the words to what the student didnt
understand because he was illiterate. The student questioned if the master could
not even read the characters, how would he understand their meaning. Truth
has nothing to do with words, the master replied. Truth can be likened to the
bright moon in the sky. Words, in this case, can be likened to a finger. The finger
can point to the moons location. However, the finger is not the moon. To look at
the moon, it is necessary to gaze beyond the finger, right? In our case, the moon
becomes the room, and the finger the information about the room. In every day
applications, the finger becomes our thoughts, while the moon is anything we
seek to know.
This example brings into question the very same method we use to know the
things in our lives.
So when we want to discuss the unknown, we have to look at everything
we think we know in life and realize that it is still part of the unknown, because
we merely have information about this supposedly known object.