How are we suppossed to know?? -soapbox rant-

[chromerhino]

Hey all you smart and open-minded people

While reading on here about topics that test and challenge our basic foundation of beliefs/reality I have noticed that a common response is that certain big and basic "known facts" simply CAN NOT be challenged because certain things are simple well known and common sense absolute facts. Well, how do we REALLY know they are facts? For instance, what actual <strong><em>personal</em></strong>, verifiable evidence do we have that the world is a sphere? Or if it IS spherical, how do we know that it's not hollow? We think we have the ability to learn anything we want to know because we have an education system with all the answers. The truth is that our education system is flawed with books and information that is verifiably out dated and just plain wrong, yet the information is not corrected. Unless we go back and do our own research and experiments for ourselves we may never learn the truths that allude us.

I read, listen and absorb the research and thoughts of other people's theories, thoughts and conclusions and I wonder just how different things might actually be in comparison to what we know... or what we <strong><em>think</em></strong> we know, due to restricted information reaching the mass population. When you take into account that very few of us have ever challenged the very basics of what we have been told in school, a whole new world of possibilities opens up for us to ponder upon when you realize the way everything, including knowledge, is controlled all over the world.

I stumbled into this conspiracy realm, kicking and screaming at times, from a very scientific path. I was basically on a path to obtain the knowledge of how everything worked in this world. I found that the more I tried to learn, the more I realized that a great deal of our "scientific knowledge" is really just the best educated guesses of pretty smart people that are built on "proven theories" of really smart people that came before them. The more you look into the history of science you find that there was a point where true scientific research was shunned and only science that was "approved of" by those with the financial backing to do so was rewarded with grants/funding. The other research was gobbled up by the military/government or private investors with deep pockets who owned companies that would benefit from having (or hiding) the new science/technology. This goes for everything from electricity to psychology. Its a very sobering moment when you realize this, and very frustrating to know just how much knowledge has been kept from us.

I have been very fortunate to have known a number of highly intelligent persons with a great deal of wisdom in my time, to which a few of them have bequeathed slivers of that knowledge to me. From several of these persons I was enlightened to the fact of how knowledge is limited to the common folk. It seems that some of what we consider to be silly common sense facts are actually well planned out "good enough" explanations to satisfy most people's minds so that we don't question anything past the information that they give us. I was also told that there is a whole society that is so much more advanced than what we could imagine. Maybe the "UFO's" (or at least some of them) are actually human beings that have just gained more knowledge than the rest of us and are living a nice quiet existence away from all of the wars? Ha ha. Well, I guess anything is possible.

I really do believe that there is "Occulted" knowledge to be had that explains some of the deeper truths that we are so eager to find out. But is it really "occulted"? It seems that maybe everything that we search for is actually hidden in plain sight. I guess I'm looking for the Rosetta Stone of "occulted" knowledge so that I can decipher all the wisdom that has been kept from us.

So, how are we supposed to know what is truth and what isn't if most of what we know is only what we are told is the truth? We don't have the tools, time or resources to explore everything ourselves. We could just keep reading what are in the books that "they" give us to read and accept it as our truth or we can question everything and try to figure out our own truths... but how can we do that?

What does everyone else think? Have I gone too far down the rabbit hole? Does anyone else think we can ever figure this all out? Or do you think there isn't anything to figure out and it's just the human psyche trying to keep itself busy? I want to know your thoughts.

 

[chromerhino]

Thanks for the wisdom That's a very good mantra... very ZEN. I was in that place once (and still am for the most part) but I feel its too much from a place of complicity for the path that I'm on.. and its more fun to explore further down these rabbit holes than it is to say everything is a rabbit hole.

I'm not letting the thirst for the secrets and truths take over (...again. It has before) my life but I think there is much wisdom to be gained and its worth the effort so I'm going to search for it. Even if its only to keep my mind busy

 

[q]

Yeah it's challenging bro, to keep perspective without becoming invested in some extrapolation being "true". Building a narrative is very much an addiction of the mind and I too feel the compulsion. In an effort to navigate the world I feel like we are making a map of correspondence, almost a personal matrix or parallel reality with which we can forecast or even - unawares for most - an attempt to bring the outer world into accordance with. Sometimes, if we are honest, a lot of our motivation for needing "to know" is a function of fight or flight, a perceived vulnerability as a result of confusion. One of the main mis-calibrations of scientific method (and mind centred-ness in general) is the blind spot regarding emotional motivation - with the implied fallacy of supreme objectivity.
Personally, I find my sanity responds best to frequent and fundamental reparations to source. Maybe that sounds a little too intense, but if you're not too far from centre it shouldn't be that traumatic. The only thing we know <em>for sure</em> is the "I AM" of consciousness manifested by WILL through breath. If you've ever been far gone into psychedelics you'll know what I mean. These days I prefer to use playing music or just looking up into the sky. Anything will do, the trick is expansiveness and reductionism. But at least once a day let the mind relax and disappear. Like any tool it needs to be put away to keep it sharp and objective. And that's only the conscious mind, let alone the iceberg of the subconscious and the emotional landscape itself, with past hurts and unresolved issues. Tends to bubble up by itself when the distraction of surface mind goes away.
Stories as exploration are fun and useful, but require constant attunement with mind (narrative model), body (sensory experience) and heart (emotional significance). With true centre in the spirit or soul (emanation of consciousness). All of these are just words making a pattern, but hopefully they can convey something useful.
Is the Earth flat? What changes when you believe that? Is the Earth a sphere? How do you feel about that? Maybe we can ask Schrodinger's cat what it thinks about it...
I know how I feel contemplating Flat Earth Theory. I can seek out facts and figures to support that reaction, or I can begin by exploring that response to discover significance. Then knowing that better, I have context to pursue further study if I wanna.
Thanks for asking this question because I think it is very relevant, especially in the shadowed world of Conspiracy. To even contemplate finding answers, we have to first understand what we are asking.
How do we know? As above, so below. Micro macro! Round and round, here we go!

<em>Actual results may vary</em>