The Joy of Not Knowing

There is no price someone would not pay for the knowledge of the future.  Perhaps the single biggest desire we have is to know what’s going to happen – how is something going to turn out?  Throughout the ages, humanity has sought the advice of oracles, astrologers, psychics, prognosticators, futurists.

But if we stop to think about it for a moment, we realize that would not be a very dynamic life to live.  It’s easy to prove – just think about two movies that you recently watched.  One was suspenseful and you had no idea of the plot twists, and the other was entirely predictable.  Which movie did you enjoy better?  The suspense of life is what keeps things exciting, that’s not the problem.  The problem is our fixation with a certain outcome, our identifications with how events unfold, and our fears that feed self-preservation over all else.

When we already know, that closes the door on potential and possibility.  This comes into play in science as well.  When scientists resolutely make up their minds on how some aspect of reality works, they are closed to any other explanation.  Staunch materialism in science is actually a form of fundamentalism.  That is why it is said that science advances through a series of funerals.  The old guard must pass before new ideas are welcomed and cultivated.  It is only by saying, “I don’t know” that a whole realm of possibility opens up.

Life is wonderfully unfolding in each moment, and when we can let go and flow with it in spontaneity – that is when it is sweetest.