knowledge

so i'm reading siddhartha, almost done, it's been a nice book to take my time on and reflect whilst reading, thanks russ for the book, and here's some stuff it's made me think about and realize.

because each of our realities is a perception of the world, we can't really KNOW what IS, but we have our impressions and beliefs as to what IS. so no one can really possess knowledge. instead, what we have are beliefs, both weak and strong about what is and what is not.

what defines a belief as weak or strong is evidence and reasoning. like with a theory, however many instances in life that we perceive reflect and support that belief, the stronger or weaker said belief is. like how every time we see a wall withstand force, or hit it with our hand and get hurt, we know it to be hard. each time we see that similar result in the world, we have more and more certainty of our belief.


a reli cool thing about belief/knowledge is how we obtain it. the way i see it, there are two ways we learn, or gather knowledge and beliefs about the world: experience and teaching.

experience is like reading from a primary source, this source being the world as we see it through our perception via our senses. the secondary source of teaching being when someone else or something else (like a book, hint hint) tells us something. experience is much stronger in this respect, because the reality of it is closer to our mind, while teaching is us seeing through someone else's perception something in the world.

when we experience something, like heartbreak, or a bruise, or trauma, we understand it firsthand, much better than when someone tries to describe it. the former is just more vivid in our minds.

when someone tells or teaches us something, it's more difficult. we like proof, or reasons to show that this teaching is true or reliable. if not, we just go along with whatever is told to us without really understanding why it is true. experience gives us a firsthand example of knowledge, like a self-evident truth.

final point of this post, dedicated to mr. fisher, who once asked "but isn't sympathy bs?"

sometimes, yes, it is bs. but when you've legitimately experienced the same scenario (for lack of a better word) that the other person is going/had gone/will go through, you do understand what that person is experiencing. when you have experienced the same thing, or a very similar thing, sympathy becomes much more real and genuine. but if you've never experienced the same thing, then you are farther from understanding the situation of the other person, for the reasons i've stated above.

so it depends, mr. fisher. if you've never experienced what the other person is going through, then yes, you're sympathy is bs. you don't know what they're experiencing, and all you can do is guess how they feel.

but if you have gone through the same or a similar thing as the other person, then your sympathy is not bs. you need a decent understanding of your own feelings to relate and understand someone else's, and a willingness to be there for the other person and seem sincere, but bottom line, your sympathy will be true, because you have been there, and that experience has taught you to understand that situation.