Meditation for January 5th, 2017
On Absolutes
People have been more absolute in their convictions now than ever before. People either know exactly why they exist and their purpose because of X, or they don’t care at all and don’t want to know. Either way, it is an absolute.
Some time in the common era, people have given up trying to grasp the very complicated truths about our very existence and decided to settle for simple, yet untrue or omitting most of the actual facts, answers.
People have decided that because their pizza pocket takes no longer than 90 seconds in a microwave, that they no longer need to wait for truth. They want an answer now and the loudest voice wins.
Our very soul thrives on uncertainty. Having an existential crisis on why we are here, what is the point, and what happens after we die is the very nature of being human. Animals feel, have communication, some mate for life, and others even have opposable thumbs, but feeling the very crushing weight of all the universes on our lonely minds is the very essence of the human experience.
We grab for religion, philosophy, and science for answers. As time gave way to technology, the answers were never enough to have life’s mysteries figured out. We found an answer to one thing and the left and the right of that answer became new mysteries. Science, philosophy, and religions fought over the mysteries, but even with science’s more proven method of answering a mystery, it was never enough to squash the need for religion and philosophy.
What happened? People shrug their shoulders at these mysteries and don’t care. None of the mysteries have been solved, but either the little answers we do have is enough, or who gives a fuck.
We have become no better than animals because we have turned our backs on not being absolute. It’s ok to not know, but it’s life to keep asking.
Being so absolute has squashed art, poetry, music. Art is the mortar in the bricks of uncertainty. Fear and being in awe of the very fabrics of reality around us is what has created the most beautiful music, art, and poetry ever made. Certainty has given us Banksy, Drake, and claiming that Bob Dylan is a poet, but can’t compare him to any poets because no one knows any poets.
The phone gives you Absolutes. Put the phone away and everything you see will become terrifying and awe-inspiring.