Sunday, March 7, 2010

Knowledge Creates Nothing

What is knowledge?

When I look at all that is around me I experience existence. I see many different things, and I experience many different experiences. But for some reason, it is not enough for me to just experience what is around me in this mundane manner. I need knowledge of this existence.

Now I am trying to seek knowledge of this knowledge. I want to know what knowledge is, and I want to know why knowledge is needed. After much pondering into this question, I discovered that I do not feel comfortable with existence. Something about things that exist does not sit well with me. Think of it this way: If there was "nothing" then there would be no questions. The who, what, when, where, how, and why would all have the same answer: Nothing. A nonexistence seems to sit well with me. But when I look at the world I see existence. I don't just see one existence; I see many "different" existences. Now the endless questions begin. It would be much simpler if there was just "nothing."

Knowledge seems to be the quest for "nothing" (not to be confused with a "quest for nothing"). If the perfect "nothing" is not here, I have to approximate it by minimizing the amount of existence. By finding patterns in existence, I realize that there is much less "different" than originally thought. For example, I realize that paper is nothing more than wood pulp that came from a tree. Now I know that all of the pieces of paper in the world are not categorically different. Rather, there is a tree and a logical rule. Essentially, it seems that knowledge is a process by which I can limit the amount of existence and create more good old "nothing."