Celebrating Ignorance

Many experiences over the holidays have opened my eyes once more to just how ignorant I am, indeed how ignorant we all are.

First, I am in the middle of reading a very long book called Shantaram. Thanks to Helen for the recommendation. Every so often you read something from a world totally different from the one people like us inhabit, and this is one such book. Set in the 1980’s in Mumbai, the author somehow finds himself among the slum dwellers and Mafiosi of the city, and describes vividly how life was in that place. My guess is that it hasn’t changed a lot.

Whereas Slumdog Millionaire invited us to a Mumbai as true as global audiences readily permit, this tale is Mumbai in the raw. How a country of a billion, a city of 20 million, or a slum of 25,000 somehow manage to make things happen is totally gripping. Furthermore, the book has more than its share of thought-provoking philosophy.

So here am I, smug in my cocoon, thinking I know how things work or could work better in the world, and even feeling a bit comfortable in my compass of values, and along comes this book to remind me how little I know. Thank you, Gregory Roberts, I am in awe. And then, consider this. Roberts is an educated Australian, and he surely tells his story from that cultural standpoint. Imagine, what we could learn and discover from an Indian perspective on the same tale. Perhaps in future we will be able to, so fast is modern technology changing our world.

Then the Economist Christmas issue offered its usual revelations, showing again how complex and diverse the world is, how history has shaped it, and how little I know about it.

Then I saw the film about the start of Facebook, the Social Network. I recommend this. While the story offers little in the way of suspense, or action, or visual content, the makers created something quite gripping and thought provoking. Even with artistic license, it is stunning to see how some very ordinary people managed to shape the world (and transform their own lives) with some very ordinary content. What potential we all have! What might open up for us all next? How we all struggle amid such ignorance!

Then the Economist added in some spice, in its first 2012 issue, with a wonderful discussion of new economic theories. It is clear that no-one really understands Economics, which makes it such a fascinating subject. Neo-chartalists, market monetarists, and an Austrian school have all developed separate theories which almost start from first principles. As far as I could gather, if one is right the other two are very wrong, yet each seemed vaguely credible, at least within a crucible of a single economy. Which is why I do think my own idea of removing countries is at least theoretically interesting, as removing that constraint could make any of the three more powerful.

These are just four examples. I don’t even want to start to try to understand the Higgs Boson. I’m constantly in awe of how the human body works, or the systems that make up our climate. The depths inside our brains are still almost completely unknown, but I am sure that within my lifetime, God willing, we’ll have made immense progress in fields like depression or empathy.

So my brain has been spinning, but spinning happily, as I ponder resolutions for 2012. I listened a homily on New Year’s Day which tackled the same subject. It started from the very sound position of counting our blessings. That is always wise. Then he suggested resolving small changes in our lives to make it slightly easier to count blessings, whether that be an hour of silence per week or some other way of finding more peace.

I’ll try this. And in my hour of peaceful silence, one of things I’ll remember to celebrate is ignorance. My ignorance, and the ignorance of humanity. I still love the theory of Oakeshott (see earlier blog), whereby our life philosophy should start from the concept that we know almost nothing, that in a short while we’ll know massively more than we do today, yet that will still be almost nothing. How true that feels, and how helpful. For example, follows of this philosophy are always alert to mistakes, always look to experiment and try to avoid closing off subjects.

Celebrating ignorance does not come easy in our society. Our parents pretend they know everything to us. At school we try to display what we know, not what we don’t. In business and politics it is the same: who easily confesses that they don’t know an answer? Certainly, it would not be a good way to be adopted as the Republican challenger to Barack Obama in 2012! We are taught to be a bit ashamed of our ignorance, to try to cover it up.

But I resolve to celebrate ignorance. That way I need not be ashamed, only curious. That way it will be easier to avoid worrying about things over which I have no control. That way I can become better at asking, at listening and at learning. I can wonder happily at the potential of mankind rather than become miserable at its manifest failings today. We will do our best, after all, and our best can be magnificent. This way I can find more peace.

Celebrating ignorance does not mean seeking it, quite the opposite. We can thirst for knowledge and improvement, and delight in the journey, knowing full well we can only scrape at the surface of our ignorance.

There is even a spiritual component to celebrating ignorance. I find it hard to conceive of a God who is all-knowing, looking down upon us as a sort of master-controller. But I can readily admit the converse – that humanity is breathtakingly ignorant, wondering in a sea of fate with precious little control. That is a good starting point for spirituality, I find, humble, and accepting of what fate throws at us.

So, at the start of 2012, I raise a glass for ignorance. Will you join me? My best wishes for 2012 whatever resolution you choose. May your journey on the sea of fate be a fruitful one.