all i know...

recently i have been listening to and reading blogs from a friend of mine.

it has sort of...i don't know.
just maybe discouraged me a little.

anyway, i wanted to get my thoughts out there, not only for others to read, agree, disagree, or glean from, but mostly for myself, just to really put them into words, and make it more concrete in my mind.

"we can't know anything" is what my friend is currently living his life based on.

i honestly don't know where to begin with my thoughts on this subject.
i guess by saying yes, we can know things.
we can know quite a lot, to be perfectly honest.
let me just set up a hypothetical situation.
i have just boiled some water for us to have some tea.
as i'm bringing the pot of scalding hot water over to the table, i stop and hold the kettle over your head.
i start to tip it.
now, anyone in their right mind would scream "STOP!" and jump out of their seat, so i'm guessing that you are going to do this.
you do this.
i say "what is it?"
you say "you were going to pour that hot water on my head".
there is my point.
in this particular instance, you have proven to know (at least) 2 things.

1) the laws of gravity. if i tip the pot over your head, you know it will pour out on you. if we didn't know anything, and nothing was for sure, how could we know that this would really happen? although you may have a memory, or some experience where gravity was working properly, how do you know that it will do the same now? there is no consistency. Since we can't know anything, and we can't trust our senses or recollections, why would you think that the water would fall on you?

2) water is hot, and it will burn you. once again, although you may have a faded memory or recollection of boiling water being hot, why would you think that it's going to be hot again? why wouldn't it be cold this time? why would it hurt you?

you would never let me pour the water on you.
because you know the water will be hot.


i have struggled with being able to know things...a lot actually. how can i really be sure that i am here, and that you are there, and that i am typing real words that are legible to others? Is everything subjective?
no, says i.
the only way i can know this is because of the beautiful consistency of our world.
there is almost always a reason to the rhyme.
when you put water over a flame, it gets hot....every time.
when you jump into a swimming pool, you are going to get wet....every time.
what goes up must come down....all the time.

all is in motion.......cause and effect.....