My thoughts actually have nothing to do with the book being discussed, but with a statement made about halfway through the post: "Mystification is the opposite of explanation."
Main points of my thinking:
1. Life in general is a mystery
- By mystery I mean that ultimately external reality cannot be known perfectly or completely, but also that the knower even has great difficulty in knowing oneself
- I'm not going to lay out the argumentation for this here, but perhaps in a future post if there is interest
2. Definitions of Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom:
- Knowledge: basic information comprehended by the self either through personal experience or through the experience of others
- Usually causational: if this, then that [example: if hungry and I eat this, not hungry any more]
- Understanding: systematization of knowledge to form some sort of whole, pulled together by the self through reflection on personal experience [as well as experience of others relayed to the self]
- Example: when hungry: I eat these things and they make me not hungry, if I eat those things I will still be somewhat hungry, and if I eat those things other have told me I will die
- Wisdom: going beyond the systems made in understanding, realizing the great extent of their limitations and acting accordingly out of the many systems and the limitations thereof. This being the case, wisdom is only reached when one fully realizes the great extent of limitations on understanding, and is able to live in that mystery of knowing much but not knowing even more
- Example: when hungry, realizing all the contributors to said hunger that one understands, realizing all the ways the hunger could be satisfied, realizing that there are even more pieces to this puzzle than one can grasp, and then acting in a way that is best suited to the overall situation
3. Upshot of all this
Conclusion: Understanding, even when it only makes things appear more complicated, is well worth the effort to grasp at, and though it may appear to mystify, it will eventually lead one in coming to a fuller understanding of reality and perhaps even to wisdom.
-sDB
Critiques I am seeking: What I really want to know is what you think of the definitions of knowledge, understanding and wisdom,
ation.
tion.
Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell
- See more at:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularoutpost/2013/06/03/preliminary-thoughts-about-stephen-meyers-signature-in-the-cell/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.mVMUGflU.dpuf
Preliminary Thoughts about Stephen Meyer’s Signature in the Cell
- See more at:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/secularoutpost/2013/06/03/preliminary-thoughts-about-stephen-meyers-signature-in-the-cell/?utm_source=feedly#sthash.mVMUGflU.dpuf