{"id":68577,"date":"2024-06-12T13:49:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68577"},"modified":"2024-06-12T13:49:09","modified_gmt":"2024-06-12T18:49:09","slug":"not-knowing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=68577","title":{"rendered":"Not Knowing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Not Knowing<\/a><\/h3>\n
\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The verbs we use
\nto confirm or refute our acceptance
\nof the beliefs and worldviews of those we know,
\ncomprise a sort of code, like
\na hidden handshake, or a shaken fist.<\/p>\n

We are asked whether we\u00a0condone<\/em>\u00a0or\u00a0condemn<\/em>
\na certain behaviour, but
\nthe meaning of condone
\n(other than as a rarely-used synonym of gift)
\ndates back only to 1962: first deployed
\nas a barbed word
\nin the rhetoric of Cold War brinksmanship.<\/p>\n

The words are straitjackets,
\nand you will be damned \u2014 condemned
\nif you do not wear them, willingly.<\/p>\n

You must wear one or the other.<\/p>\n

If you wear the\u00a0condone<\/em>\u00a0jacket, you are evil,
\na monster, an apologist,
\nand must be shunned by those seeing you wear it.
\nIf you wear the\u00a0condemn<\/em>\u00a0jacket, you are virtuous,
\nbut must then also be prepared
\nto\u00a0condone<\/em>\u00a0any retribution
\nfor what you have \u2018agreed\u2019 to condemn.<\/p>\n

This straitjacket is\u00a0reversible<\/em>.<\/p>\n

You are with us, or you are with the enemy.
\nThere is no third choice
\nof just trying to understand, of admitting
\nto not knowing, but asserting
\nthere must be a reason for everything,
\nno matter how awful.<\/p>\n

To those who condemn, that is condoning.
\nTo those who condone, that is condemning.
\nMake up your mind, they say:
\npick the bad guy, someone to blame.
\nNot knowing is not acceptable.<\/p>\n

You cannot sit on a barbed-wire fence.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is why we are so aghast
\nat the possibility that we have no free will.
\nWe will accept any explanation,
\nno matter how convoluted or lame
\nthat grants us some control, some responsibility,
\nsome room for blame and judgement.<\/p>\n

After all, we could\u00a0never<\/em>\u00a0do what they\u2019ve done,
\nyou know?<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not Knowing The verbs we use to confirm or refute our acceptance of the beliefs and worldviews of those we know, comprise a sort of code, like a hidden handshake, or a shaken fist. We are asked whether we\u00a0condone\u00a0or\u00a0condemn a certain behaviour, but the meaning of condone (other than as a rarely-used synonym of gift) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[30764,32260,32259,17209,8718],"class_list":["post-68577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-liberty","tag-agency","tag-dave-pollard","tag-how-to-save-the-world","tag-knowing","tag-knowledge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68577"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":68578,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68577\/revisions\/68578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}