Close to nothing

Sometimes, lack is everything. A silence can be meaningful. The zen, like cream.

Language often deals with lacunae. For every is there is an isn’t. In European languages, the yes, the no.

Where we struggle to fill the gaps is generally very telling. It’s usually where conflict happens. Benjamin Whorf and Edward Sapir encourage us to think about why and how we think the way we do. Could it be that our language has something to do with it? [BBC video here.]

Poverty of thought becomes dangerous when everything that we don’t know becomes “what we do know”. Where everything we see is judged off of our own baseline. That can never be a fair or relevant yardstick for someone else’s culture. How long is a piece of string? And have you really understood?

Mind you, there are plenty of proverbs that point out shortage of wisdom. Bulgarians will say, неволята учи (misfortune teaches the lazy). In English, the devil makes work for idle hands. It makes me think of lesser evils and shortcomings. Like the choice between ignorance or knowledge. Whether you share food together or throw bombs at each other. Do you learn or lag behind (trapped in prejudice)?

It’s a long shot. Einstein said, “I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.”