What Is Real? And Can We Ever Know For Sure?

In every single one of us there is a void that can never be filled.

A part of us that yearns for a complete and definitive understanding of the life that engulfs us.

An omniscient end point in the pursuit of knowledge.

At any moment, a new scientific discovery or technological advancement could occur and cause our current conception of reality to crumble.

And after that, it will just as likely happen again and again into eternity.

Every answer comes with a new question.

Every step forward illuminates more of a trail with no destination in sight.

We posses a level of intelligence that seemingly never meets the needs if the reality that precedes it.

We are conscious enough to perceive the world and add two and two together.

We are conscious enough to ask questions based on our perceptions and logical summations.

But we are not conscious enough to create and sustain conclusive overarching answers from it all.

Our most meaningful questions can only be speculated.

Questions like where we came from.

Why we are here.

Where we are going.

And what is the point of it all?

The simple fact is, we currently have no way of finding answers to these questions.

Perhaps these answers do not even exist in conclusive form.

Or perhaps humans are not built with the purpose to ever find them.

When reflecting on our inability to conclusively answer our most basic existential questions over the last several hundred thousand years of human existence, it begins to feel hopeless.

And it is our continuing ignorance of reality that creates the void that we can never quite fill.

It is why we chase habitual distractions and temporary pleasures in life.

Why we all sometimes feel lost, sad, and helpless.

Because what is the point of living without answers as to why we live at all?

And furthermore, what is the point of living without any real prospect for these answers?

But arguably, not having all of the answers is one of the greatest reasons to live.

As humans, we operate from a system of duality that cares about logic and understanding as well as emotion and feeling.

Our purpose and enjoyment of life is not bound exclusively to a finite endpoint of the pursuit of knowledge.

An endpoint to our questioning and revelations about reality would be an end to our humanity.

It is the perpetual game of cat and mouse that we play with reality that stimulates vigor in life.

Without it, what would there be to strive for?

What would there be to feel emotion over?

The part of human life that is so profoundly interesting would cease without it.

We should not live with existential angst and a constant chip on our shoulder because we do not and cannot possess definitive answers to all of our questions.

Instead, we should live with the excitement and wonder that comes from the fact that because of this, we will always possess the potential for new discoveries and new worlds of life.

We will always be able to create theories and meaning and experience the awe of their realizations.

It is deeply human to strive for answers and to move towards new understandings and explanations.

To fantasize about the singularity between humanity and the reality in which it resides.

To visualize an end point of intelligence and become synchronized with absolute truth.

But it is also deeply human to never achieve this.

And to believe and depend on this occurring misses the entire point.

The pursuit of understanding and knowledge can and should exist for itself.

This pursuit is what makes us who we are.

Excitement, wonder, and humanity itself are all rooted in the very fact that life, or at least our understanding of it, is constantly in flux.

New possibilities arise with every second that passes and we must enjoy playing the game that this creates, simply for the sake of playing the game.

If we view life in this way, the void we all have within us will begin to feel a little less deep.