In Praise Of Bewilderment

One ambition of this experiment called Member Monday was (is) to distill complicated truths from false simplicities, the subject of our discussion article (In Praise of Bewilderment). 

Bewilderment, we are told, may sometimes seem a threat as it means surrendering a part of oneself as our various "certainties" function as nodes in our "web of beliefs," all interconnected to give us our worldview. We become vulnerable, especially in times of crisis, when that "tyranny of certainty" is challenged such that our amygdales flood the system and we are reduced to little more than braying pack animals seeking an echo chamber over meaningful interaction. That is why our MM protocol calls for active listening and a respectful pause such that the forum offers thoughtful exchange over mere reflex.

We might first ease into the necessary humility by recalling our previous session MM 11/14/22 Things (We Know For Sure) That Just Ain't So and then move on to our experiences with real-life paradoxes e.g. perhaps you discovered the counterproductivity in those vain attempts to exert control, or how you landed that important job only after you stopped trying so hard (in golf parlace, loosening the grip on the club), or how you've experienced or witnessed  that "never-enough" phenomenon where one's "wants" seem, on an accelerated basis, to perpetually outstrip one's "haves". Our MM 6/10/19 Good/Bad . . . . We'll See was all about the cause-and-effect mysteries in one's life trajectory. 

The point is one need not enter the Zen Buddhist world of koans to appreciate the limitations of locked-in certainty. Only with an open mindset are we ready for F. Scott Fitzgerald's dictum, "the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind and still retain the ability to function" as we contemplate such paradoxical topics as the certainty of Free Will given Man simply has no choice in the matter.