{"id":1551,"date":"2014-05-20T12:40:49","date_gmt":"2014-05-20T17:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1551"},"modified":"2014-05-20T12:43:45","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T17:43:45","slug":"poem-needling-a-haystack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/05\/20\/poem-needling-a-haystack\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: Needling a Haystack"},"content":{"rendered":"

The stockpiles of human knowledge grow exponentially<\/strong>
\nAnd wisdom, like needling a haystack<\/strong>
\nSays, “What the hay?!”<\/strong>
\nFinding better questions is where it’s at<\/strong>
\nNot how fast you can shovel it<\/strong>
\nNor how big your pitchfork is<\/strong>
\nRather what thread follows<\/strong>
\nAnd sew what<\/strong><\/p>\n

This short poem is a tribute to questioning with a purpose.\u00a0 Unfettered skepticism produces cynicism.\u00a0 Wisdom recognizes that some questions are better than others.\u00a0 In fact, what questions you ask determines what answers you get.\u00a0 This poem cuts through the exponential amassing of knowledge by honing our attention to that which mends our reality together into a meaningful whole.\u00a0 Without meaning full questions to guide our inquiries, greater access to knowledge simply leads to greater confusion.\u00a0 The attraction and distraction of a tsunami of available answers to questions, i.e., knowledge, can actually hamper wisdom.\u00a0 Now, this isn’t some anti-intellectual argument.\u00a0 This simply recognizes that intellect lacking wisdom is much less fruitful, even dangerous.\u00a0 The quests for scientific knowledge and wisdom are consonant.\u00a0 Both seek to integrate knowledge into an ever greater whole.\u00a0 Knowledge that serves the whole, as opposed to just some part of reality, is a better quality of knowledge.\u00a0 Knowledge isn’t just about bits and pieces, mere facts; true knowledge is about a deeper understanding of the relationship of these parts to each other, and most importantly, the whole.\u00a0 Wisdom has a deep respect for the whole, and an even deeper reverence for the fact that the ever greater whole can only be tentatively and incompletely described.\u00a0 Thus, wisdom is characterized by both humility and curiosity.\u00a0 Wisdom opposes militant ideologies and apathy.\u00a0 In fact, militant ideologies are simply ideologies that have lost humility and curiosity and stopped seeking out the ever-elusive, ever-greater whole, which is at least partially represented by those outside a militant ideology.\u00a0 This fact escapes many trapped in militant ideologies because they mistake totality for unity.\u00a0 Wisdom is an inoculation against militancy, fascism, and fundamentalism.\u00a0 This is because the humility and curiosity of wisdom breeds a generous attitude in seeking a harmonious relationship with the whole.\u00a0 The openness of wisdom is not merely a corollary of the tentativeness of empirical skepticism and scientific reductionism; it is is rooted in the positive appreciation for the value of the “other” which comprise the yet-undiscovered aspects of reality and ineluctable mystery.\u00a0 This may be your enemy.\u00a0 This may be God.\u00a0 It may be both.\u00a0 A generosity transcending mere openness is made possible by a trust or faith in the whole being more valuable than the parts, even the sum of the parts.\u00a0 This faith is as essential to healthy scientific investigation as it is to loving human relationships.\u00a0 This simply assumes, or prefers, science that serves the whole rather than some special interest.\u00a0 This simply assumes, or prefers, human relationships that don’t reduce humans to things to be manipulated, but beings to be appreciated.\u00a0 The generosity of wisdom is the mother to its only true child: kindness.\u00a0 In humility, stripped of arrogance and egocentricity, and equipped with an overpowering curiosity and a transcendent appreciation of the “other,” only kindness remains.\u00a0 And all good will follow.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The stockpiles of human knowledge grow exponentially And wisdom, like needling a haystack Says, “What the hay?!” Finding better questions is where it’s at Not how fast you can shovel it Nor how big your pitchfork is Rather what thread … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[642,546,403,353,435,640,458,539,432,159,474,415,65,293,473,532,456,486,457,417,658,94,110,68,544,601,423,502,524,390,93,53,321,547,464,719,389],"class_list":["post-1551","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-apathy","tag-argument","tag-arrogance","tag-attitude","tag-character","tag-curiosity","tag-cynicism","tag-facts","tag-faith","tag-fascism","tag-fundamentalism","tag-generosity","tag-god","tag-humility","tag-ideology","tag-intellect","tag-kindness","tag-meaning","tag-militant","tag-mystery","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-questioning","tag-questions","tag-reality","tag-relationships","tag-respect","tag-reverence","tag-science","tag-scientific-reductionism","tag-short-poems","tag-skepticism","tag-transcendent","tag-trust","tag-unity","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: Needling a Haystack | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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