All That We Are... Are Labels

Within the confines of the known universe, a madness is present that taints all of the knowledge which every human being has aquired within their life, and within the lives of others.

Nothing is as it seems, and it only seems that way because the human being has labeled it as such.

Language is the remarkable tool which all philosophers great and small have at their disposal, and it is that very language which limits knowledge at all levels to that very element.

Indeed, labeling begins with prehistoric man and continues to this day. The life and times of the hunter gatherer revolved around the daily exercise of labeling this and labeling that.Fire, wood, the animals which are hunted, are all a product of labeling.

The reader may now ask..."so what?"....and they would be right to a certain extent. But from a philosophical point of view an important point is being made: what is knowledge?For that matter, what constitutes intelligence? Because the more one explores that question, the more limited mankind becomes.

It is a critical observation that comes with the reality that all knowledge revolves around the act of labeling, and with that labeling comes a vague sort of intelligence allowing the passing of thought and emotion. Clearly, reality is judged by the senses. What can be seen, heard, smelled, or touched constitutes how real something may or may not be. Along these lines would come an in-depth dialogue about dreams and the clinically insane, but that discussion must be for another day.

When one gets down to it, what is known? Does existance essentially consist of running around and placing "post-it" notes upon all that is sensed? "This is 'milk', this is "your father', this is the 'television'." Is everyone aware, as I am, that the know universe simply consists of labeling? And since that is true, what is it that is achieved by mankinds existance?

One conclusion would surround the fact that this existance being experienced now is only the preliminary one of understanding. Perhaps it is like a martial art form: there are endless basic movements that must be mastered before one can continue and achieve. In fact, with martial arts, all who are involved with them knows the words "black belt" stands for excellence, but the reality is something quite different.

In most martial art forms, "black belt" means only "mastering of the basics", which is significant because most outsiders believe that achieving the black belt is the end, when in fact, for the dedicated artist, it is only the beginning.

Perhaps that is the state of mankind today: we are only at the beginning of our contribution to this universe. We, as a species, are in the "gathering of information" area of existance. But that revelation (if that's what one might call it) is significant because it is an indication that mankind truly has an enormous way to go to achieve true intellectual enlightenment.

I attended Rutgers University and studied philosophy, English, and History.