I think any philosopher enjoys a good mystery. It gives us something to think about, questions to ask, answers to find. Our life here on Earth will always be filled with questions, riddles, and enigmas, sometimes without answers. I also think that a lot of the world thinks of questions in a negative light. And, it is natural, as humans, to fear and dislike what we don't know, however I don't think questions are always a bad thing.
One of my favourite quotes about this topic comes from the TV show, Heroes, and it says: "Sometimes
questions are more powerful than answers." -Mohinder. And this is very true, questions can have a bigger impact on a person then the answer could. Philosophy is a perfect example of this, people have dedicated their lives to the questions that may never be answered. Why are we here? What does it all mean? What will happen? These are powerful and mysterious questions, are they not? These questions have shaped religion and philosophy, and is in a sense, the very basis of religion and philosophy.
That did not exactly explain why I believe mystery and the unknown is so important to not just me, but the world. Albert Einstein once said "The
most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of
all true art and science". All art and science started with a question, a thought that was never completed with an answer. So, scientists and other great thinkers build their own answers, or at least substitutes for a certain time. I think though, that as interesting as it sounds, knowing everything would be a horrible thing. There are answers, we are better off not knowing. Our time of death? What the future is like for us? If we know these things, we will never experience, anything. Surprise, joy, sadness, love, anger will cease to exist if we knew absolutely everything. Sometimes, ignorance is indeed bliss. It is also impossible to know the infinite reaches of everything with our finite mind. So, if we did know "everything", our mind would probably, blow up. Do we know that? No. Will we ever? No, because it is impossible for anyone to know everything.
Mysteries are infinite and fantastic, and will forever sit in the human mind as we reside in our mortal state. Is this a bad thing? No, not at all. As Einstein said, mystery is the most beautiful thing we can experience. (Some may argue that love is, but love is a mystery, is it not?) Life is a "riddle wrapped in mystery, inside an enigma" and it will be for a very long time. And lucky for me, that is what this blog is about I suppose.
