We make the pieces fit

It is striking to me, at the moment, how little we know. I don't mean this in terms of compared to the sum of all knowledge, which would be bad enough, but how little we know compared to what we think we know. This isn't because of a lack of evidence, in fact, if anything, it is because of an over abundance of evidence. It isn't because we are led astray or conned by someone else, more times than not, it is ourselves.

When I was in elementary school, young enough I was still riding the bus, which might mean Kindergarten, but I don't remember for sure. Anyway, for that brief window I made a discovery. I learned, rather found, secret of initials. See my name was Jason and my initials were JAS. This meant, your initials must be the first three letters of your name. My friend across the street, Nathan Andrews had the initials NA (first letters of his name). It worked, the pieces fit perfectly. For a brief window, I was the boy who, if I knew your name, I could also tell you your initials. I had evidence, I had made a discovery, tested it and it worked. It would be two weeks and several arguments later I would discover I was mistaken. This was hard, because even though there was plenty of counter evidence, I already had an answer where the pieces fit. An answer that didn't challenge my self worth, or problem solving skills. An answer that made me feel very clever. I didn't want this other truth.

We have the internet now, which means if I wanted to prove my initial theory I could probably find an abundance of people who fit the criteria, I could make a much better case about how initials are derived. Additionally, there would be lots of evidence to the contrary, but I don't have to take those claims seriously. They might be made up, or part of a conspiracy, or just wrong because. They are not as clever as I am.

Politics is full of these links and assumptions and believes supported by evidence. President Barack Obama was born in Kenya, look it up. President George Bush planned the attack on the twin towers, you can look that up two. Liberals all want to steal from the rich to pay for abortions and conservative all want to starve grandparents and kill homosexuals. They are monoliths, giant, faceless united organizations which, if you believe anything about them, you can probably find evidence to support you. What conclusion you come to will be the one where the pieces fit. Not the right pieces. The pieces that fit inside of you.

What do you know about your parents? Your kids? Your wife? The Bible? National Healthcare Reform? What do you know about the dangers of gun control? History? Global Warming? There are millions of topics with millions of pieces of evidence. What do you actually know, and what is just reinforcing a belief you held anyway? Right or wrong we insulate the walls of our own truths with bits that work. A world shaded by our own lens. I wonder today how much I know is just a clever boy trying to prove to himself that he is still clever.