The Edge of Knowledge

I. Narrative. Human knowledge, like sound, rises in levels. The first steps are clear and melodic, forms, laws, systems that can be understood. Then, moving toward the heights, the melody becomes thin, breaks up, trembles. Beyond a certain point only chirping remains, then silence. It is not because there is nothing there, but because the flashlight beam of understanding grows faint in the endless darkness. The unknown is not empty, only our senses draw its borders. The world keeps vibrating, dancing, creating, we simply no longer hear its music.

II. Explanation. Let us look. It is like music. Like a melody that in the lower octaves we still hear clearly, we hum it, we follow it. But the higher the octave at which the melody sounds, the quieter and thinner it becomes, and finally it almost completely disappears to our ears. Yet the melody does not cease, we simply no longer hear it. So it is with the world, what we still grasp is clear and tangible. However, as we rise higher in understanding, we only sense it more and more, and finally we perceive only silence. But the world continues to vibrate, to unfold, to exist, and therefore it is always worth seeking, asking, moving forward, even if we know that we will never be able to hear or understand everything completely.

III. Conclusion. We humans perceive only a slice of the world through our senses. It is true that our instruments have extended our sight, our hearing, our touch, but even so we have remained bounded. Especially regarding the deeper workings of the universe there are thoughts and truths that we cannot grasp either with instruments or with direct experience. Here lies the boundary of human knowledge, a point where understanding grows faint and curiosity becomes quiet. Will we ever be able to cross this boundary? As the limits of consciousness expand, so the world will open before us too, seeing all that surrounds us in ever greater love and unity. But now, in this moment, we must be content with this knowledge. And yet the desire to understand the whole never goes out in us, this is what sets us off again and again toward the unknown.