All we know is that we know nothing?

I constantly find my self struggling with not knowing. I have this strong desire TO KNOW. To know what the purpose of life is, to know what happens after death, etc. When i think about how ignorant I am I feel sad and angry. I feel that if one doesn't know The Truth, one can never truly be happy/satisfied/complete. For those of you that have come to realize that you know nothing, what do you do about it, do you forget about it and continue with your life or do you sometimes feel sad or angry that you are not "in the know". What advice would you give to those of us who are tired of not knowing, tired of being Truth-Seekers, tired of being lied to, tired of knowing that at the end of the day we dont know ****.

A couple quotes kind of sum it up for me:

"To know that you know what you know, and that you do not know what you do not know; that is true knowledge"
Confucius

"It is what it is"
Unknown

"You know nothing, Jon Snow"

reply to post by 0thetrooth0


It used to bother me but I do not dwell on it in the hopes that someday I might.
But, I am learning more every day and that is a far cry from where I started.
In time I may not be smart but, wisdom will do fine.

Relax in the state of not knowing any 'thing' and look to what is doing the knowing. What you seek is what is seeking.
Look for the seeker and then you will know all there is to know.

"were not supposed to understand everything, we just need to understand that we understand nothing"

and this

"the man who claims to understand everything, understands nothing"

relax, it doesn't matter!

reply to post by doubledutch


Understand means to stand under. Stand under nothing.

reply to post by 0thetrooth0


I know what you mean OP. I agree with everything you said. I get the feeling that we don't know the truth because if we did we wouldn't want to continue living. I know that's a very cynical viewpoint, but it's the only logical conclusion I can draw. I mean, if our lives were so important and meaningful, I think that everybody would know that.

It's like telling a calf that their life's purpose is to get fat so they can one day be slaughtered for food. If the calf truly understood that, I don't think there would be any motivation to get fat.

The world wouldn't work if it weren't for ignorance.

Don't let it destroy you; don't gnash yourself with your own teeth. Have a laugh! Now you can walk around dispelling myths and shattering systems. You can walk into any conversation mockingly and laugh in people's faces: "Hah! And how do you know?"

Please don't let it get you down, why would you even want to know? For vanities sake? So you can tell others that you know?

And, since we're tossing around quotes from others:

"Take care, philosophers and friends, of knowledge, and beware of martyrdom! Of suffering 'for truth's sale'! Even of defending yourselves! It spoils all the innocence and fine neutrality of your conscience; it makes you headstrong against objections and red rags; it stupefies, animalizes, and brutalizes when the struggle with danger, slander, suspicion, expulsion and even worse consequences of hostility, you have to pose as protectors of truth upon earth—as though 'the truth' were such an innocuous and incompetent creature as to require protectors! and you of all people, you knights of the most sorrowful countenance, dear loafers and cobweb-spinners of the spirit! After all, you know well enough that it cannot be of any consequence if you of all people are proved right; you know that no philosopher so far has been proved right, and that there might be a more laudable truthfulness in every little question mark that you place after your special words and favorite doctrines (and occasionally after yourselves) than in all the solemn gestures and trumps before accusers and law courts. Rather, go away. Flee into concealment. And have your masks and subtlety, that you may be mistaken for what you are not, or feared a little."

Nietzsche - Beyond Good and Evil

There's more laudable truth in the question marks.

reply to post by 0thetrooth0


For me, realizing that I know nothing was liberating! But upon pondering the concept, I do know some things. I prefer to re-word the phrase as: "All I know is that I know not all things." In this existence I am bound by limited experience and relativity. Therefore, in this life I can not know all.

To have knowledge or to lack knowledge does not seem to be the cause of an unsatisfying search for knowledge or truth. What is the root cause for such an unquenchable thirst? You actually stated the root cause in your OP:

"I have this strong desire TO KNOW."

Wanting, Desiring, Yearning. When you gain a new insight, discover new knowledge, or experience a truth you are only temporarily satisfied. It is not knowledge or truth that drives you, it is 'want' and 'desire' that you chase. Free yourself from 'want' and Truth will reveal itself to you.

"The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want."

Ponder this quote. Change the word 'Lord' if you are not a monotheist. Substitute 'Lord' for 'I, Self, Consciousness, Truth, or Universe, etc.' Make the phrase your own.

to know the truth is to b true at ur extreme level, then a relative objective realization of ur true self is possible from truth objective perspective in relation to
then a sense of true freedom rise from realizing objectively relative truth knowledge so truth conception is abstractly in mind as the base of ur true free sense out of it

then it depends on u as true free sense and usually here where all the problems of limits rise ur choice will be to become one still living, if u keep truth in mind and struggle as a conscious to be living while admitting objective else freedom rights so staying relative out of truth in recognizing objective truth superior value to present existence, then i guess u wont b wrong but not right either

well i dont think free right senses have any privileges, unfortunately since they are directly abused from evil oness or later powerful ones if oness will stop owning the whole existence right

but freedom right senses are those that enjoy really dealing constantly with objective superiority meaning its positive constancy facts while staying free out of their relative realizations

reply to post by Itisnowagain

Is that you, Benjamin? Just kidding

There shall be no TL;DR reactions to my response.

Why bother discussing it?

Knowing that you know nothing is utterly absurd since you couldn't even know that if you knew nothing. Thinking you know everything is the only non-paradoxical position if you really don't want to know anything as an alternative to manifesting no thought-knowledge processes whatsoever. to the know-it-alls!

“Those who know do not speak. Those who speak do not know.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Teh Ching

“If you understand others you are smart.
If you understand yourself you are illuminated.
If you overcome others you are powerful.
If you overcome yourself you have strength.
If you know how to be satisfied you are rich.
If you can act with vigor, you have a will.
If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting.
If you die without loss, you are eternal.”
― Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

and this one is for Absolutely

Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health. ~Lao Tzu

Knowing that you know nothing is simply the call of an open mind...

Few things are "absolutes"... but there are obvious absolutes...

Like...
if you jump you will eventually return to earth...

There are even fewer philosophical abolutes... Though i do know one...

Love...

Through love you can find truth in all things...

And as they say... the truth will set you free

reply to post by Blarneystoner


this one is for u signed by me

knowledge is one and one is evil
that is why not knowing is better from worse
free sense is the only true existence fact and freedom is never sick
that is how evil means flourish despite all the horrors they do and live through
health is to created things that need constant powers to appear in shape existing so heal is a verb invented by liars, when all what is created is to die definitely since only truth exist

reply to post by 0thetrooth0


Like always, we humans think far too small, and make up rules that fit with that smallness as a way to justify the brainwashing into smallness that we all experienced from our birth right throughout our life.

Everything you ever want to know is really inside you.. it's been said a gazillion times over in human history. The brainwashing/Indoctrination into Culture has built limitations to what you can experience and know. It is so that you do not come to Know at all, but only think you may while you struggle under the weight of everyone else's Beliefs and Limitations... Opposition, which itself is part of the brainwashing and is designed to make you feel bad about yourself if you do not Follow the blind Hordes.

The paths to Knowledge are available to all people. They are the very things we suppressed in order to Follow our Cultural demands and Limitations. We have forgotten as much about our real selves as we gained from our long pursuit of Materialism.

Philosopher's can only theorise about what is... and they do so from the Limitations of culture.

Experiencer's on the other hand are free from the Limitations as long as they have no Attachments ot ANY Beliefs about Anything. Only then are the gates to the thin, rocky and winding paths to Awakening open to you.

To take these paths sets you in opposition to the World of your Culture... hence why so few have the testicular fortitude to walk these paths. Most much prefer the safe and comforting limitations of Cultural Indoctrination... and then attack those who do not as if they are the one's with the problem for not just Following along with the herd.

The only limitations to what you can experience and thus Know directly is what you personally Believe about it all. Beliefs are not factual or based in experience, they are only Theories passed down the line of Followers... and you are expected to accept them as Truth.

If you have the strength and valour to stop Following, to forge your own path based on simple methods that work well, and which you modify yourself as you go along your rocky little path.. then you will find Real Answers from within you that are opposed to what Humans do and Believe now.

The Druids had a maxim.. Truth Against the World. It is brilliant in it's simplicity to describe a huge factual concept in only four little words.

reply to post by Tayesin


waoo tayesin i dont remember ever reading a post so far right

reply to post by 0thetrooth0


I Know! The tribulation of each human is near. Think and act positive to everyone & everything is all I can say!

hey

well bud....you will only grow in "not knowing".....explanation: ....as you learn more you see other things you did not before.....those things you do know will transform over time in your mind as you grow......so in the end there is no "constant" of knowing......just moments we see clearer than others.....all in all.....the fact that you learn from what you do know leads you to want to learn about what you don't....like the more you get, the more you want......

as your thirst for knowledge grows, you will become smaller and smaller to it....your own needs will eventually be insignificant compared to what you will come to "know", and with that your knowledge....it will be constantly dwarfed by the universe.....

patience is a virtue and time/ life is but a thing in passing....find satisfaction not in what truth you may acquire and how quickly but rather find greatness in the scope of your question......not in your ability to answer it or not....
in the end any issue you have is with your ability to satisfy your want of glory....let's not be naive....we wish to know (at first) so as to secure our own bit of that GREATER something else....ego and glory....go hand in hand....even in the hand of a saint.....or a god

When we learn to surrender ourselves to that quest....not for our knowing, but for our knowing our purpose.....any measure of anything is a piece of the whole....
when we see the whole....we find our place in it........that......is ......it....

satisfaction lies not in satiating a thirst or a hunger......but in not knowing the need or lack thereof.....

can you forget this world and its pain.....?......then you must accept that first.....and live beyond that second.....

to live in peace during the day and rest in anguish by night is not "the way"
to live in anguish by day but in the end to rest in peace.....is closer to "the way"

what is there that can be known.....answer: only the void of our understanding.......and it is vast....take pride in understanding that.....it is no small feat