Pursuit of Wonder

When a person considers and analyzes the functions of the brain, the brain is analyzing itself.

As far as the human brain is concerned, it is the only thing on planet Earth to have the ability to become self-aware of its own existence. Not only is the brain aware of its existence, but it also spends its entire life trying to understand why.

Existing is not enough for the brain. The brain must also understand why.

It is the single question "why?" that separates human from all other species on planet Earth. Ever since we are old enough to utter words, it seems as though our favorite word is, "why?" When we are a child, we ask things like why the sky is blue or why things die. Our parents might give us their best answers, but the spirit of our question remains restless and fundamentally unanswered.

Our brain is so confused. It does not understand how it can be both conscious enough to ask questions but not conscious enough to uncover all of the answers? It taunts itself with this perpetual cycle, trying to find a way out of its infinite madness, but it only knows how to dig its self deeper.

So what do we do? Do we follow our brain into its hole of madness? Yes and no.

We must be careful when we live with the word, "why?" because it is a double-edged sword. On one side, it is a wasted existence to disregard our inquisitive nature and not try to improve life and human understanding. But on the other side, identifying with this infinite inquest fills us with a sense of constant dissatisfaction and restrains us from ever truly stopping and enjoying our individual lives.

It is a balance between both sides that we must learn and apply. We must ask "why?" but learn how to live happily without always having an answer for it.

If our well-being is dependent on all the "whys?" being answered, we become like a dog chasing its own tail. We will constantly chase our own brain, running in circles, longing for all the answers to life. But once a dog catches its tail, it realizes that the tail was a part of it the whole time and it has only bitten itself.

In the same way, people who try to find the experience of life by merely chasing after it, suffer. Just like the tail is attached to the dog, life is already attached to us. We do not always need to chase it. Sometimes we just need to live it and enjoy its mystery.