robert madison's Profile

What, then, is the meaning of it all? What can we say to dispel the
mystery of existence?

If we take everything into account -- not only what the ancients knew, but
all of what we know today that they didn't know -- then I think we must
frankly admit that we do not know.

But, in admitting this, we have probably found the open channel.

This is not a new idea; this is the idea of the age of reason. This is the
philosophy that guided the men who made the democracy that we live under.
The idea that no one really knew how to run a government led to the idea
that we should arrange a system by which new ideas could be developed,
tried out, and tossed out if necessary, with more new ideas brought in -- a
trial-and-error system. This method was a result of the fact that science
was already showing itself to be a successful venture at the end of the
eighteenth century. Even then it was clear to socially minded people that
the openness of possibilities was an opportunity, and that doubt and
discussion were essential to progress into the unknown. If we want to
solve a problem that we have never solved before, we must leave the door
to the unknown ajar.