The More I Learn

 

Published March 13, 2007

 

The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.

 

In a Feb. 14 letter “I don’t want to pay the government to run my life,” the author made bold, authoritative claims about the perceived glories of capitalism and injustices of socialism.

 

While reading the letter it dawned on me that not too long ago I championed those very same arguments, and in the same strident manner!

 

I suspect my thinking changed because, as I continued to learn and grow, I re-evaluated my conclusions, changing them (or, at least, holding them less firmly) as I became more aware of life.

 

At a very young age I discovered that the more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know.  Having gained at least a glimpse of the complexities of the world, I’ve come to see that there really is no single solution to human relations; especially where hundreds of millions of people are the object of concern.

 

It has been said that “A young man who is a conservative has no heart – and an older man who is a liberal has no brain.”

 

I believe that, by middle age, anyone who still believes that “liberal” or “conservative” is either “absolutely right” or “absolutely wrong” is no longer asking questions about life.  And when people stop questioning the world around them, their minds become stagnant pools, which breed only pestilence, vermin, and foul odors.

 

It seems to me that most people (indeed, everyone I know), at some point decide they’ve “figured it all out” and, instead of continuing to learn, devote their energies to building defenses for their established position.

 

I believe that true wisdom exists in knowing that there is ALWAYS more to the story.  And anyone who claims to have mastered even a PIECE of the puzzle has become just an eddy in the river of life.