I saw this at Kottke.org and it seemed a question worth answering. Edge: World Question Center asks What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?
I read several of the answers from the panel and the pervasive self-importance annoyed me. These are some of our ‘greatest minds’? I kept thinking the same thing: that most people use knowledge to reduce reality to something they can grasp. Scientists amass knowledge and develop systematic theories of the universe. Religious-minded individuals submit their desire for truth to a heavenly authority rendering their reality comprehensible. It says a lot about humanity, this desire to know. Does it represent a fear of mystery or powerlessness, a need to control experience? Why is it always so important to know? What do animals think when they look at the sky, or when they die?
If I was to answer the question, “What Do You Believe Is True Even Though You Cannot Prove It?”, I would answer that I believe there is no way of knowing. That the ‘truth’ of wherever/whatever/whoever/whenever we are will always remain out of reach. Is that such a bad thing? Can knowledge blind your understanding?