Seeking certainty in an uncertain existence

Man is a being who builds a mental image of the universe. Each human being I feel lives in a different universe, where no two universes are similar. If we discount the people who have realized the mysteries of the universe, everyone is on a journey of learning or understanding. All we live by are theories and hypotheses. They are everywhere. They are in science, religion, spirituality, law, morality. Everything is seen through a tinted glass.

What is morally erroneous to a vegan seems morally right to a non-vegetarian. People fight. Media get's TRP over issues like this. Sometimes people lose their lives fighting over such beliefs that they hold.

Often not knowing that we live in a separate world from another individual makes us intolerant. Why are they eating that? Why do they pray to so many Gods? Is it not my duty to bring them to my way of life, which is the only way of life? This is the root cause of so much intolerance we see, whether in personal or professional lives. A good example can be the Foreign invasions of India since the 10th century AD. When the invaders found people to be worshiping many Gods, not even trying to understand the local culture they set about on a bloody conquest of murder, rape and pillage. All this they felt was justified for the greater cause of bringing the heretic to their fold. So much so that they thought that God would grant them great rewards in paradise for these acts.

While this is one problem that the world faces today, what exactly is the reason why people concoct theories or belief systems. People cannot deal with uncertainty. I once wrote about how Cantor unearthed a monster when he started working on infinite and trans-finite sets. People loathed the concept. Bertrand Russel loathed paradoxes and hence set about removing them in his magnum opus Principia Mathematica. Only he was disappointed when the brilliant Austrian logician Kurt Godel unearthed a monstrous paradox right in the heart of the principia, giving rise to the famous incompleteness theorem.

There is a problem in this world, for those who objectively seek certainty and confront uncertainties head on. Sometimes people are irrational, even the most sane people behave irrationally. How can one deal with such behavior. Those who seek certainty are sometimes overwhelmed and the world seems too cruel for the likes who seek truth. It is this attitude that drove Cantor mad. It is this that made Godel die of starvation. I think sometimes, when faced with irrationality or any other perplexing instances, it is better to take a step back , relax and say "Not my circus!  Not my monkeys!" :)

Sometimes it is better to be OK with ambiguity, uncertainty etc especially if at that point in time, anything you do might make matters worse. Best remember God if you are a theist and trust he will make things better. If you are an atheist or an agnostic, best do something you love to do. Read that brand new novel you've been told is brilliant. Go take a chance and watch that new Star Wars move. May the force be with you :)