Certainty

Being right feels good.  Being wrong doesn’t. Blindly following archaic ideologies was probably a favorable trait in order to preserve ones survival in the past. For example, if you lived in Europe during the Inquisition it would be prudent to adhere to the scripture, Exodus 22:18 “thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”.

If we were able to go back in time and interview Witch hunters what would they say about their actions ? How would they have justified what they were doing? By merely questioning their beliefs might the interviewer be lynched or burned alive as well?

To be certain means to believe that something gives a true and accurate representation of the Universe. Not just in the present, but always. 

Growing up I could never understand how people could be so cocksure of themselves, their beliefs, and actions. Certainty in an ever changing world seems silly when there are bad ideas perpetually circulating. Throughout history humans were probably certain - in the sense that these were natural phenomena - that unicorns, fairies, magic, and countless Gods existed. In hindsight we can eschew these childish beliefs as ridiculous.

Our understanding of the universe has been increasing exponentially since we developed a method of written communication, mathematics, along with all branches of science - not all developed at the same time.  Astrology was once considered a science until Astronomy stole the spotlight employing the scientific method in the place of dogmatism. 

With the technology available in 1769 Nicolas-Joseph Cugnot created the first steam powered tricycle (considered the first automobile). By today’s standard’s this technology would provide us with little more than a historical snapshot into the past. In fact, if I were to use the same time machine I mentioned above to show Nicolas my computer, his only explanation might be aliens, god and/or magic. 

There are some things that we humans do for no good reason, other than the act is considered to be polite. I recently discovered the reasoning behind saying “bless you” after somebody sneezes. In Europe during the middle ages it was thought that when a person sneezed their sole leaves their body, making them susceptible to demons. If someone said “god bless you” it blocked the evil spirits from entering, allowing time for the sole to return home safely. 

Reflecting on blemishes in our history we can ask questions about our “modern” ideologies. We find ourselves floating through space on the same planet. The map has changed but the stars are all the same. Civilizations have come and gone, but here we are. We are still certain about things we cannot possibly be certain about using our current understanding of the Universe. Some are certain that gay marriage is intrinsically bad, others that their town / city / country is the best place to live.  Some are even certain that their favorite sport happens to be the best, and anyone who does not share their opinion is stupid.

It seems that whenever current knowledge is employed to develop certainties, we tend to look back on our actions as if we should have known better. I would argue that every civilization in human history has looked at their own way of life as the most progressive, modern, and praiseworthy. This self deception still applies today. Yes, we have technology, the internet and computers, but the bad ideas are still around. 

“Only two things are infinite, the Universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”

- Albert Einstein

Ignorance and bliss

My life began eight thousand six hundred and twenty nine Earth days ago on a small blue and green planet that is roughly four and a half billion years old.  Earth is elliptically orbiting a relatively small star located in the outskirts of the Milky Way Galaxy.  On the day I took my first breath the star we call our sun appeared to rise in the East, and set in the West.  

Since then I have learned to; drink, eat, walk, talk, run, jump, socialize, learn, play, question, imagine, read, write, add, subtract, use a computer, try avoid being awkward, and write a blog, not necessarily with any expertise, or  in that order.  Assuming that I started with no knowledge at all, a blog entry concerning everything I have learned during my life would be surprisingly large, which might not interest you. 

If infants were not equipped with the ability to learn then we would not last long as a species.  With this in mind, at what point in life is it appropriate to stop this innate process?

By the time we reach our late teenage years I believe young people have most of their prejudices wired into their complex brains, and begin making important life decisions using these sets beliefs.  These biases are probably made up of a vast array of childhood and adolescent experiences, and may or may not be representative of how the world really works.  For instance, a child who was born and raised in Massachusetts might not be cheering for the Vancouver Canucks right now, and this is clearly delusional.

Since being omniscient is not a human quality, there seems to be limits to how much we can actually know.  What we, as individuals, should refrain from doing is substituting our lack of knowledge with preconceived opinions about any unfamiliar noun.  Although some of our beliefs regarding famous people, distant Countries, and Tigers may seem to be justified; sometimes our biases can blind us.  Our ability to learn is innate and it would be unreasonable to believe that there comes a time in life where we ought to stop this blissful process.

Microevolution in sunglasses

When faced with uncertainty we are required to make decisions that will directly affect our lives.  Uncertainty in the domain of sunglasses is whether that particular style will stand up to the test of time. With so many variations of style sunglasses are forced into microevolution in a consumption market.

For microevolution to occur in sunglasses different styles and trends have to make their way into existence from previous generations of frames and lenses. These styles are selected by consumers leading to the flow of genes and to allow genetic drift to take place.  Since the evolution of sunglasses is driven by a consumption market, it seems that styles and traits are artificially selected by consumers. The genetic drift in these styles is subtle but necessarily occurs.  Successful traits in one style of glasses could be applied to a different style, leading to variation. Sometimes large mutations do take place and can succeed, and other times you end up with an oversized pair of orange Oakley’s with green/orange mirrored lenses.

Some of the styles that make their way to the shelves and onto the face of consumers are generally accepted and become common. If a particular trend is generally conservative and only a slight shift from the accepted norm, they are considered acceptable themselves.  There are styles of sunglasses that seem to never disappear. Unpopular traits can lead to an inability to be artificially selected. When this takes place those undesirable traits are lost and will never be passed on to future generations of sunglasses.