Dear Friends,
It seems to me, all knowledge is contingent. Because in a year, a century or a millennia, they’ll discover what we honestly believe is true today… is wrong. That’s why I listen to everyone and believe no one. Which is to say, I have an open mind, but I only really believe those things I have directly experienced. As far as those things that I’ve been told are true, the sun is a ball of fusing plasma, photons can become entangled, and the double slit experiment proves light is both a wave and a particle… I take them at face value, until proven otherwise. Since I have no way of independently verifying those statements. So I accept them contingently. Because knowledge isn’t an edifice that we build upon, it’s a complex system that evolves, even changing in nature every so often.
The sage listen to everyone and sifts through the chatter for the tidbits of wisdom. I was told many decades ago, by a very close friend, that hot water freezes before cold water. I found it hard to believe, but I didn’t push back because… who knows? A more counter intuitive idea can’t be imagined. Yet it’s a scientifically proven theory. Even though cold water doesn’t boil faster than hot water. Why the asymmetry? Maybe you’ve just learned something that you had never suspected before? As we fit new information, especially the absurd truths that are told to us by regular people, our knowledge evolves, it doesn’t simply grow. What makes this insight even more powerful, is that if we only listen to experts, we willingly step into an echo chamber. Allowing that anyone could be right is the exit to that chamber.
I think kids should be taught this as early as they’re able to process it. Contingent knowledge is open minded intelligent skepticism. Tell the kids that even the stuff they are taught in science class aren’t necessarily true. Because they aren’t. In my life, many things I was taught are scientifically true, turned out to be false. So accept that which by all appearances, isn’t falsifiable, until it is. Then eject the notion immediately. Because if we seek to have actual knowledge, we have to be ruthless in our weeding out untruths, and allow ourselves to have no attachment to them. Attachment to an idea is adherence to a falsity. It’s a faith. Because even if mostly true, our attachment prevents our knowledge from growing and evolving to better understanding. Making this a valuable lesson for kids.
We all accept without question scientific truths. Out of laziness, gullibility and the drive to go along. While much, if not most of what we accept as scientifically proven today, will be discredited tomorrow. That’s the nature of knowledge. Back in the day, Newtonian physics explained almost everything. The orbit of Mercury didn’t fit in though. Showing they were missing something. Then Einstein came along. Now Einstein’s physics are accepted… but maybe not in another century? Moreover, simply because a theory predicts and explains observed phenomenon, doesn’t mean it’s right. If you’re hiking through a forest without a trail, using a compass and no map, sometimes you come to an impassable cliff, mountain or river. So while the direction appeared to be correct… the real path lay somewhere else.
Holding all information as contingent, or open minded, intelligent skepticism, is the way to proceed. It allows new knowledge to be gained, wrong knowledge to be ejected and thus allow our overall understanding to evolve. Listen to everyone. Truths and knowledge are widely distributed. As Hayek said. Knowledge isn’t as concentrated as many believe. Don’t become attached to an idea. That’s a sure way to close mindedness. It’s faith. Because only those willing to let go of wrongs will move closer to rights. Even science is subject to change. So hold all knowledge contingent on further understanding. Otherwise it’s faith, and the only one we should have faith in, is Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. All others and their truths are contingent on fitting observation and not being falsified.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
