POSTED RESPONSE TO A COLUMN IN TORONTO'S GLOBE AND MAIL
I’m sorry, but these are silly pop ideas.
The notion that there is such a vast amount of knowledge is almost childish.
The truth is virtually the polar opposite. We are only at the first beginnings of real knowledge, and a bit of humility would be most appropriate because false assumptions and arrogance are behind so many of humanity’s miseries.
In area after area of human knowledge, we are only the most rudimentary stages of development.
Think of the human brain and how little we know despite the posturings of psychologists and educators.
We do not understand why some people are extremely violent or why some people are sexually attracted to children.
We do not understand the cause or even the full nature of conditions like schizophrenia or manic-depression.
We do not understand the cause or full nature of conditions like autism or psychopathy.
We are nowhere near to understanding how the brain develops and learns, although some half-educated educators would have you believe that they understand.
We do not understand many ordinary natural processes, including notably the earth’s cycles of climate change and the sun’s cycles of change.
We do not understand the basic building blocks – if one may use such a term – of the universe, despite our wonderful achievements in relativity and quantum mechanics.
We do not even understand the basic nature of time.
We have no idea, beyond speculations, of how life arises in the universe.
We have no idea of how to square the basic notions of randomness in nature and cause and effect.
