Come to think of it, I know less about Mother Theresa than she knew about
me. All that I know is hearsay about an idol, which may say more about
the purveyors of the idol than about M.T. At least M.T. "knew" that she'd
never heard of me.
The motto on the front of my sandwich board is "'Tain't what a man
don't know that hurts him; it's what he knows that just ain't
so." Intentional or not, it is a paraphrase of the zen buddhist precept of
not-knowing. The saying is usually attributed to either Mark Twain or Will
Rogers. There is no record (found) of either of them having said it. In
its present form, it is a quote from Frank Hubbard who restated an earlier
quip by a 19th century humourist whose name escapes me at the moment.
I want to thank Ed for reminding me of one of my founding precepts.
And also for teaching me how hard it is to consistently apply the
principle. I wanted to argue against Ed's view of "the way it is" and
criticize his view as static. To argue against Ed, though, would require
that I take up an idea that is itself fixed.
Just to avoid any misunderstanding, not-knowing isn't a justification of
ignorance but more the sense of keeping an open mind, always being
cognizant that what we do know is inevitably shot through with ungrounded
guesses, rumour, wishful thinking and convenient omissions.
Temps Walker
Sandwichman and Deconsultant
