We think we are so smart,
that we finally understand the nature of things.
This has been an enduring illusion,
one that seems to move with us through time.
In pre-scientific cultures mental illness
was often explained in terms of spirit possession.
At some point in our recent past
we came to believe that our science could explain everything.
And while this view may draw us ultimately to a clearer truth
it is fraught with dangers we always seem blind to.
The assumptions we make
that go unrecognized
give us distortions like Freud
and his original sin; sex.
And from such fraudulent beginnings
we evolve schemas of thought;
of logic and precedence
based on smoke.
And, even if we do manage to begin from solid ground,
we can and do fall prey to reification
and end up believing
our laws are the reality.
Like children, we are just beginning to think
and like children who begin too many projects
beyond their attention span
we leave many thoughts half thought.
So what does the future hold?
What other illusions will we stumble through,
full of pride at our small learnings
and convinced, at each moment,
that we have most of the big picture and only lack
the fine details.
We are still convinced that what science can describe
encompasses everything
and we are still blind to the truth
that no matter how much we know
we are always still moving
the small light of our knowledge
thru an ever greater darkness
gallagher
1 September 85
— Copyright 1965-2008 by Dennis Gallagher —
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