(April 26, 2015 at 2:16 am)robvalue Wrote: I seeI wonder if this would help: how boring would it be if we knew everything?
Why would it be boring to know everything? When I go hiking someplace I have been before, and see the beauties of nature, I am not bored by it, even though I typically do not really see anything very different from what I have seen before.
(April 26, 2015 at 2:16 am)robvalue Wrote: There would be no mystery left!
How would there being no mystery be a problem? I am not upset when I know the answer to a mathematical problem, or how to open a bottle of wine, or any of the other things that matter in my life.
(April 26, 2015 at 2:16 am)robvalue Wrote: The journey is more important than the destination. A glib platitude, but I think it is generally true.
I disagree. Becoming an atheist was unpleasant in the extreme. Being an atheist is comfortable.
Flying to Europe from the U.S. was unpleasant. Being in Europe was fun.
Going to the store to buy wine is a bother. Drinking the wine at home is good. (In this case, going to the store to buy wine is not generally unpleasant, but it does not compare favorably to drinking the wine. Relatively speaking, it is terrible going to the store, compared with drinking the wine.)
(April 26, 2015 at 2:16 am)robvalue Wrote: It sounds to me that maybe this is about self reflection more than it is about the actual questions, and examining your own attitudes and strategies.
Yes. It is a question of attitude. One can not know things, and be upset about that fact. Or one can not know things, and not be upset about that fact. What one cannot have is complete knowledge.
Of the possible options, it is best to not know things, and not be upset by that fact. The stoic philosophers can help with this, if one has trouble with the concept. I recommend reading Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and Seneca for help on this sort of thing.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
