What?

So, for me, I tend to boil all other philosophical questions into one. Simply put, that seminal proposal is “What is?” which may be taken as a question or a statement depending on context. From that shaky ground, I bravely journey out across the universal sea of existence.

But in order to sail the ocean of “is” we need to first unleash the boat from the dock of “what” and that will take some doing.

And first, to break free of what, we have to identify all of what as opposed to all of nothing.

As I said, I am unique. In that view, I am like everything else. From what I can tell, what is the same as I. All of what is fashioned in a unique way. As it turns out, only that fashioned from nothing may be the same. So, what seems a singular contradiction in the beginning, yet what indicates a harmony with nothing in the end.

Hopefully you agree, when employing the words “what” and “nothing” and “is” and “isn’t” in a rather random song, this language used to express any idea hides the truth of that particular idea very well.

But, stay with me, the flame of that idea burns nonetheless.

It is so easy to say that nothing really exists, perhaps only nothing exists, especially when the flame appears to die or when we turn out the lights.

About this I learned the hard way when I was young. There was a time when I believed the concept of what, of everything, of anything, only existing in my mind’s eye. I truly thought that if I did not perceive anything, then only nothing would be there.

This, on the surface, seems contradictory since we don’t really perceive nothing, do we? Nothing seems indescribable. We tend to only perceive what. Still, life quickly offered a lesson and ran me straight into the harmony of what and nothing, a revelation brought to light by my own nerves and, indeed, the very marrow of my bones.

All it took to dash this unusual concept from my brain was a short walk around the living room one early summer morning, blindfolded, nose and mouth gagged temporarily, ears comfortably stuffed with numbing silence. I sensed only nothing.

Yet, what was that damned unforeseen coffee table, it’s location reported by the pain of my unprotected toe forcefully stubbed into it, that caused me to immediately rethink my theory. Clearly, I deduced, what is still out there regardless of whether I correctly sense what or not.

My mother, witnessing this calamitous experiment in her living room on that lovely summer’s day, was cautious in her evaluation of my display. Quickly and hopelessly demolishing my thoughts on this matter, I believe it was at that point that she seriously questioned my accurate understanding of what and I began to reconstruct my own ideas as well.

But here, you see, can my vision of what be the same as yours? Did you also stub your toe on a coffee table at some point? Is it impossible for you to understand what I mean by what? Or is what a truth that defies our individual, unique explanations, regardless of our self-centered perceptions? Can we all tie the boat up to an immobile principle of what or are we reduced to only anchoring it in the general vicinity of context?

Well, I think that is correct, that only context will keep us afloat here. When defining what, my idea is a word that represents all the matter in the universe, known and unknown, perceived well or not perceived at all.

So far, so good?

Cheers,
MEB