Things
you know that make you physically more comfortable are beneficial -
everything
else you know is entertaining;
'tis
good to know the first sort of stuff -- fun, the second,
and
questionable for a man with ThatInterest
when its nature he realizes not.
Everyone
is born instinctively knowing enough to stay alive
(knowing to eat,
drink & sleep), but beyond that, in a civilized (thought
prominent) setting
there
is additional knowing one needs to avail oneself of its profitable potential;
minimally
one needs to be literate, and above that,
trained
in some income producing work apropos urban life;
the
more you know in this context, the better you will eat, the softer will
be your bed, the more gadgets you can afford to do work for you,
and
the better medical treatment you can obtain;
But
there are things men know which do not fit this category --
knowing
that offers no physical reward:
one
facet is knowing for the joy of knowing: the pleasure the brain experiences
when
a person hears a fact they did not know in an area of interest to them:
for
a devotee of medieval history, a new discovery about Dante's personal life;
for
a follower of physics, a new theory regarding the life of an electron,
and
for broader audiences, the latest gossip on a movie star, politician, or
sports figure;
all
such being things men know which in no manner benefit their lives.
And
there is another variety of this category:
things
men know which do not physically make life better, but about which
they
are made to profess otherwise (knowing about life-after-death
for instance):
their
brains experience pleasure when they have the thought which
pictures
the idea of an after life as a known fact,
and
for an instant they feel better -- thus it seems,
knowing
this does make
their life better;
From
the perspective of that certain man -- that is not how it can be
left.
To
ever see what is going on you must be able to privately see the clear distinction
between things you know which make your life physically more comfortable,
and
things you know which therein aid not at all:
things
your brain knows which gives it and you pleasure when they are thought
of,
but
which do nothing else and serve no other purpose.
To
a man with that extraordinary hunger to directly understand what is
going on,
it
seems in the beginning that obviously the reason he does not understand
is
that there is something he does not know,
that
which if he did -- he would then understand,
and
in the beginning, no other approach is known.
So
such a man goes in search of learning this thing (whatever it may
be)
that
he needs to know;
studying
what other similar sounding people say they know;
collecting
information; comparing, analyzing;
On
down the trail -- this turns nasty;
most
never go that far, thus are never aware thereof,
but
(to be allegorical):
picture
there is a doorway just before catching on to what is going on
through
which you must pass to get there,
and
all of the things you now know have combined to bring you to its threshold
-- without question, did you not know all of the things you do about
all of this,
you
would not have gotten this far --
so
here you are --
you
stick your right foot through the doorway into the other side,
but
your left foot is still on the outside -- apparently stuck
on something,
and
will not raise and allow you to fully step through to your goal:
what
it is stuck on is something you know.
P.S. the something you still know that will keep you from the final step is not some specific something --