ExploreTruth.com

“These are the voyages of the Starship Enterprise.” If you started hearing a familiar star trek theme song after reading that quote,  or had a Deanna Troi, or Uhura flash back(the fellas will know what I’m talking about) you may have been a pseudo Trekkie like me growing up(No I didn’t go to any of the conventions).  You didn’t have to be super into the show to know that the Enterprise and all its inhabitants made it their business to explore, “to go where no man had gone before.”

Basically they possessed a spirit. Just settling down in some quadrant of space, or setting up camp with the Klingon’s or Ferengi, wasn’t really an option.  Their mission, or what defined who they were and what they were about, was wrapped up in this statement:

To seek out new worlds and civilizations.

One could argue that this spirit of curiosity, is essentially human. Mankind has revealed this innate thirst to know, in the varying fields of study that comprise our educational system.  Some of us pick science, history, or some other area of study, to add our intellectual weight in this cooperative investigation.  We hope to add, perhaps a mile stone along the path others have trod in order to gain a better understanding of what our existence is all about.  But then again, you may have found yourself  just picking a degree program to land a decent job.  I guess that’s an option too(another subject, for another time).  But how well can one understand their world, if that is the primary motivation?

What begins as an insatiable desire to understand and explore ones world can drastically change. Look at a child.  When they discover what the word why means, it seems like there is no end in sight to how much they will use the word.  But, why mommy?  Mommies answer, when given, only inspires a series of more why’s.  But for some of us, the intensity of that curiosity seems to wain over time.  Somewhere along the way, we seem to have been taught that having a more cautious approach to life is more respectable.  Responsible even.  We learn to “mind our own business”, that meddling in affairs that don’t concern us is to be avoided, or that asking to many questions, just might get you slapped with a leather belt.  Ok, maybe that was just my childhood.

Now in fairness there is a difference between being nosy, and curious. Peeking through your neighbors back window while he or she is hopping into the shower should get you arrested. But the restless need to understand our world is different.  This is the active ingredient in what makes us intelligent. The ability to think critically, to question, to investigate beyond the superficial veneer of things.  That’s what separates us from a concrete slab, or a nice little pet slug.  Well, some of us.

A return to humanity

I say return because in many ways it seems so easy to remain where we are. To be apathetic.  To just not care to know the intricacies of how things work around us.  I mean its easy to front(Is that slang?) like I actually know where all that bail out money went.  But do I really know what happened?  Do I really understand?  Do I care?

By far the most dangerous foe we have to fight is apathy – indifference from whatever cause, not from a lack of knowledge, but from carelessness, from absorption in other pursuits, from a contempt bred of self satisfaction. -William Osler

Apathy is the glove into which evil slips its hand. – Bodie Thoene

Exploration is hard work. It’s true.  A lot of life’s reality is complicated.  It’s much easier to remain where you are.  It’s more familiar.  The people that you know have been vetted.  The ideas passed down from mommy and daddy, teachers, or the media, well, they have to be right…right?  There is a unique tension between the societal assumptions that are popular, and the critical thinking, and deep reflection that is required in order to test these assumptions.  But to be fully human, one can, and must swim against the tide of any traditional force, no matter how momentous its currents.  This is a battle that can’t be taken lightly or underestimated.  But our life may very well depend on our commitment to this struggle.

Curiosity is actually your friend. Especially when there are systems and institutions with a vested interest in your apathy, some more harmful than others.  We must learn to fight for our awareness, and develop ways to cultivate our desire to balance self satisfaction, and the laid back…I-don’t-mind-if-I-remain-as-uninformed-and-dumb-as-a-rock state, with a strong desire to know.  It’s ok to explore, to ask questions, to consider the unconventional ideas we may not be used to holding.  This applies to all aspects of our life, whether it be religious, political, financial, health, educational, or other.  And we don’t have to feel any sort of guilt in evaluating the things we even currently hold to be true.  Truth, is not worth its weight in belief or adoption, if it cannot stand the test of careful scrutiny.

3 ways that have helped me fight apathy and remain curious

1. Simplifying my life.  That way I have enough brains left to focus in on some of the things that matter most. This gives me the mental hard drive space to dedicate to more reflection, and time to think critically about what I’m seeing.
2. Reading as many great books as possible, has also been invaluable to my all around growth. You begin to realize that writers from as far back as history can see, have been grappling with the question of the human condition.  They have been the watchers perched high on the towers, ready and able to sound the cry of the approaching enemy.  Many have been the speakers of truth at times when it meant their very lives.  It serves us well to piggy back on some of these observations, learn where we can, and add our own God given noodles in the process.
3. Start writing(Or some creative form of expression that you enjoy).  For me its been writing, and blogging. Both continue to force me to articulate what it is I am thinking, or claim to believe.  My thoughts on life, work, and even God.  It doesn’t always come out perfect.  It’s probably often wrong.  But we’re not aiming for accuracy just yet.  Poet and Novelist Cecil Day-Lewis once stated, “we do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.”

Thoughts?  What ways do you stay curious?