by Alex Iverson -
"The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing."
--Socrates
Considering the level of scientific advancement at the time, I don't think he could have fully fathomed the vast extent of truth to his statement. Foremost it's important to state that aside from fundamental governing mathematic equations, everything man has considered fact at any point in time has had an expiration date.
Before Copernicus and Galileo, we were certain of a geocentric view of cosmology. Before Faraday, electricity and magnetism where separate forces. Before Einstein, energy and matter where thought of as two different things. Throughout the ages, every so often our entire concept of reality undergoes vast shifts due to elegantly simple yet monumentally profound discoveries. It seems logical to assume everything we now believe to be so, will be considered ridiculously primitive in 50-100 years (or less).
"Reality is merely an illusion;
albeit a persistent one."
--Albert Einstein
If we consider the implications of representative realism, the best we can hope for is "truths" that are relative to human perceptive ability (including math). Basically, it boils down to the fact that "reality" as we know it is limited to what our three dimensional brains can process through sensory perception. There's ultra-sonic vibrations we can't hear, ultra-violet light we can't see.
It would be arrogant to assume between technology and our brains we've detected all that "is". With quantum mechanics and M-theory, we've all but proved the existence of extra dimensions. The quantum view gets even stranger when we consider properties of matter change simply by being observed. We can never know the original nature of matter if it changes when examined.
On a more basic level, truth and reality are confined and confused by linguistic limitations. Our reality is capped by what a series of innately meaningless vibrations (words) can describe. The levels of truth to all abstract, intangible elements of existence are up for question.
The best example can be made of the ego. Just because we have a collection of fancy grunts to define the entity we call "you" or "me", doesn't mean any of it is so.
In actuality the perception of ego creates the fallacious illusion of separateness. E=MC² already proved EVERYTHING IS of ONE substance; energy. Additionally, it proved energy can't be created or destroyed.
Therefore, the average conception of death is off as well. Even math isn't completely innocent of creating figments of reality (such as zero and negatives). Nothingness doesn't exist. Nothing of one thing is all of something else. Example: no solid or liquid matter is all gaseous.
There may or may not be an absolute truth to the universe.
Regardless, the answer to that question is ultimately unknowable by humans. Anyone that thinks they can/do know is severely hampering their ability to decipher any facet of what I like to call the Big Cosmic Riddle.
The great paradox of knowledge is this... Every conclusion both eliminates possibilities and generates at least two more questions. Therefore, every time we "know" something we narrow our view and create more things that we don't know.
Personally, I would much rather play in the infinite possibilities of the Great Mystery, and stick to knowing the only thing that I can be absolutely certain of; I know nothing. Don't take my word on it by any means. You're reading the work of one who knows nothing.
The Wizard of OM
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