Friday 16 June 2017

June 16, 2017 Chautauqua


Beth's Ponderings

   The other day I was listening to a speaker who informed his listeners that he was the ONLY one with the true facts on the subject being presented.

   I didn’t agree.

   The speaker, as I am at this moment, was merely expressing an opinion, and contrary to what he said, it was solely his, as this is solely mine, opinion, and though there are some who would have agreed with him, his opinion was not that shared by the entire world.

   Even when he quoted the various experts and authorities that he based his premise on, he was still just offering us his opinion, and his version or interpretation of the material, which may have been correct, or it may not have been.

   Was he telling the truth?  He thought he was.  Am I?  I think I am.  Yet, someone else, with a different opinion, and different information, could come along and - with their different viewpoint - reveal something totally different.  It all depends on how the situation is interpreted.

   As for whether what he was presenting consisted of true facts, well, I reserve judgement on that too.  Excuse me...but how many years did the Europeans believe BEYOND ANY DOUBT that the world was as flat as a pancake and the sky was an upside down bowl over their heads?  That was an indisputable “fact” that everyone knew.

   I do have to qualify that it was an European belief because pretty much every indigenous tribe around the globe, as well as the ancient Chinese and some northern pre-Celtic peoples, knew that the world was indeed round, not flat.

   And how many of the “facts” that we learned in school have now been proven to be false, or at the very least, incomplete, in all areas of life?  Just because “everyone” believes something, doesn’t make it right or true.


   As humans we love to create, and then mindlessly cling to, certainties in our lives, yet, there is no certainty, really.  We like to think the sun will rise tomorrow (the most certain event in our lives) - and chances are pretty good it will - but we have no certainly it will till we see it rise.

Beth


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