How Do I Know?

Say, there’s a question. How do we know anything?

Simple answer: Sensory information meets human body; body’s nervous system interprets same and sends data to the brain, which in turn stores the data for future reference. 

The Long Version (according to me): We are surrounded by and inundated with an unfathomable number of bits of information every second of every day. And we take in ALL of them. Now, mercifully and for the sake of normal function, we are not aware of all of this going on. Or else our self-talk might sound something like this: “I am trying to find the right word there is a receipt on the counter made out of paper which is made out of trees which I learned in the third grade and I am thirsty where is the water I poured this morning water is H2O it’s raining the dogs can’t go running in the yard…”  and babbling on, into infinity, random bits of information that get thrown into our mental blender and collated into the portions of our brain that holds them, and spits them back out just as fast, making sense of our world and giving us the familiar. 

From the day your brain was ready, you absorbed every single bit of information you were presented with, via the ears, eyes nose, mouth, and skin. From the automatic scratching of an itch to the memorization of the periodic table; the sound of the wind, to the cry of a baby. Even your fight-or-flight responses have been recorded – and will be re-released for your use at the appropriate time. When you are hungry, you will know how and what to eat. Every day you are taking in more information, some voluntary, some involuntary, and our brains are just a stockpile of stuff that we now know. That’s how we know things.

But the system isn’t air tight. As cool as it is, this human machine, you can still mess with its programming. Here’s a fun example. I feel a tickle in my throat, and need a sip of water. I usually have a waterglass nearby. I see one within arm’s reach, so I grab it and take a sip. Surprise! It’s not water! It was actually lemonade. Being colorblind has its drawbacks. My brain was wanting water, thinking it was getting water, prepared the tongue to receive water, told the arm to grab the glass to drink the water, and…WOW! That’s NOT water! The whole system jerks to attention, like bad turbulence on an airplane. 

Sometimes, we can’t be sure of what we know. We can be psyched out by a plastic spider, feeling all the effects of real one sitting on the couch next to us. Our eyes told the brain it was real, and our adrenals were on it. But a longer look, the touch of a finger, and we can tell it is plastic. With further information, we come up with what we can KNOW to be the truth. 

So in our lives, how can we really KNOW anything – or more importantly – KNOW it to be the truth? We are bombarded with information, and being asked to act upon it. How are we to make sense of the situation in the world we are living in today? After immersing myself in the world wide web of information for the better part of its existence, I think I’m getting a handle on the answer. I’ve stockpiled so much information and from so many sources, that I can no longer make sense of it all. There are way too many contradictions, from money-making opportunities that only take YOUR money, to political conflicts world-wide – I read that both guys are good guys, both guys are bad guys, everyone is benevolent, everyone is malevolent; our view is the right view and our view is the right view. It’s to the point that when you actually encounter objective reporting, you can’t even recognize it. Conclusion: We just can’t believe everything we see or hear out there. Problem to solve: How, then, can we really KNOW anything to be true? 

Once, a dear friend of mine was accused of a crime he did not commit. I knew every detail of what transpired – I was there. Ultimately exonerated, what will never be stricken from the record is the local newpapers story on it. It was full of demonization and straight up lies. Clearly, this reporter did not KNOW what happened. He apparently thought he did, but I KNEW this person. And the person he wrote about and assumed about bore no resemblance. People reading this at their table would have easily remarked, “He should be locked up and the key tossed.” But they weren’t there. And they didn’t know my friend either. He was guilty in their eyes, simply by association with a bunch of negative words on a piece of paper. A bad person. A menace to society. Without ever knowing the wonderful person he is. What they know is simply not true. 

Now most of the people of this nation will not have a personal relationship with the president, but we will still judge everything about him – either positively or negatively. A supporter will give you a regurgitation of all their qualities, attributes and patriotism that the supporting media have broadcast. An opponent with give you all-wretch-and-no-vomit about his sinister plots to foil their freedom, spewed forth from the fonts of the opposing media. And that is all we know. Even if we read both sides – and I do – all we have is what we have been told. Unless you have conferenced with the man; unless you have attended the sessions of congress and read the documents called “bills”; all you know is what you have been told. 

Now when the stakes are as high as pending World War Three, (caps intended), it behooves us as members of one of the aggressing nations, to a know the TRUTH about what our nation is considering entering into. It does, after all, affect each and every one of us. Since it is doubtful that we will ever have any direct experiences with say, our presidential candidate, how can we know what they are really all about? As I said, it is by virtue of what we are told. If we only read from one perspective, of course you will think that your candidate walks on water. Maybe it’s time we become our own objective journalists, and read actively and objectively, what both sides are saying about the candidate of our choice. Sort through and discard the slanderous stuff, and see what you see emerging. What starts to line up with what you KNOW to be true? For instance, you KNOW that loving your children is a good thing. Both sides agree that the candidate loves his kids. Now you know something. I’ll have to stop here at a simplistic issue, because I have nothing to say about the honesty of either candidate – or their dishonesty, but I KNOW dishonesty is never good policy.

In an even larger arena, it has been brought to my attention in recent times that there is a whole world out there that is NOT America. True story. They have things going on out there like famine and war and resource decimation. Of course I knew they were there…right there on the TV and right on the cover of magazines at the doctor’s office. I’m not sure I can pinpoint the day that I woke up and realized they were warmed by the same sun and that we breathed the same air. That they were, in fact, people, just like me. They had love, they had children, they worked, they played, they got hurt, they cried, they contracted diseases. Pretty much just like here. Maybe it was when I participated in the national freak-out over 9/11. We suddenly had a reason to start a fight – like our soil should be immune to attack. But if another country - over there – decides to strike back against a hit on their buildings and civilians, somehow they are billed as terrorists? What, pray tell, are the rules of war? And to whom do they apply?

I have been hearing of all these terrorist nations. What in the world was going on over there? The western media has these wars all spelled out for us, and we know which side we should be rooting for – if we even give a shit about any other country. Many don’t. I didn’t used to. But suddenly, I did. And I realized that I don’t know anything about what was going on over “there”. Again, I had the western media, but what were they saying about this for themselves? Of course, they have a “left” and “right” bias, too. Luckily, they, too, publish both sides of their story. And looky here – it’s all available on the internet. 

From the beginning of this quest for knowledge, I have found – again and again and again – that the stories are NOT the same. There are times when I do not even recognize the story as being the same one I read from a western source. With good and evil all twisted up in a morass of civil war, terrorist actions, civilian casualties and pushes for resources and power, how could I ever know the truth? I just keep input-ing, hoping one day it will make some kind of sense. 

And then it dawned on me. I do have access to a few things that I KNOW to be true. I KNOW that when you lose everything, it is painful. I KNOW that there are people across the globe who are losing everything. I KNOW that I will always come along-side someone who is hurting if it’s in my ability to do so. I do not need to know the religious or political beliefs of a fellow human who is suffering. I know I would never act to perpetuate the suffering of another human being, directly or indirectly, and I cannot, in anything remotely resembling good conscience, support, aid or assist those who do. That’s just who I am. I KNOW that to lose a child, either by degree or suddenly, is a heartache no one should have to endure, and for whatever reason it is happening, it IS, in fact, happening. And I would stand in solidarity with any parent who does not want to lose their children, regardless of their location on the globe. I KNOW what it is to love, completely and fully, and what a beautiful thing that is. I KNOW there are acts of kindness abounding on this planet, and I will put my hand in to promote such, because I KNOW that love is stronger than hate. I KNOW that all men are created equal, with certain inalienable rights that no ink on paper need ratify: Life and Liberty, Food and Shelter, Water and Air, and a place on the planet. I KNOW that I will do anything within my power to protect these for myself and my human family, wherever they are.  I KNOW that there is not a lack of resources, but a lack of money. I KNOW that money does not make a man better, or richer, or of a higher status as long as he still has to eat, sleep and eliminate, and I KNOW that I will not continue to participate in a system that requires me to act as if this is not true. I KNOW that violence is the highest dysfunction of the human being, and that unless forced to defend myself, I will not engage in it, and will not support those individuals who do. I KNOW that hurtful words are a just the verbal form or violence, in any language, and will continue to do my best to be sure that I do not participate in such on any level.

I think you get the picture. Suffice it to say, I may never know what the truth of a world situation is from a political, geographical, cultural or religious point of view, except that which I experience here in my person. But I DO KNOW the intimate details and total truths of the experience in my person. I am in total control of but one person on this planet – and that is me. All I really KNOW, is what I  know. And all I can do is what I can do. Suddenly, it doesn’t matter as much what side is right or wrong in any conflict – it’s the conflict itself that has to be remedied. And the first conflict that needs to be remedied is the spreading of conflict, which has is origins in the human mind, when it spreads what it THINKS it knows to be true as the truth. We need to share that which we KNOW by experience to be true, and present the rest as just what it is – information for your consideration and awareness. 

So in answer to my own question, what do I know? I know what I experience and observe. If a piece of information comes my way that I can validate in such fashion, I will pass it on to you as something I KNOW. Anything else is for you to process through that which you know to be true. When you read the news, from any source, then, be your own objective journalist – and hold fast to that which is true. The world will ultimately be a better place for it.