Creating a New Perspective

Creating a New Perspective

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2:22 We’re told that once upon a time people thought the earth was flat. Now we know better and so we look back at those people as ignorant, even silly. Pretty arrogant of us when you think about it. What makes us so certain that everything we know today is true? Any reasonable person will admit to the possibility that some of what is currently known, even taken for granted, is likely incorrect. If we consider the matter with care, we will conclude that fallacy is inevitable and some of what we confidently hold as true now will eventually prove false. But how can we discern what this is? Within all that is known, how do we separate our mistaken assumptions from what is factual?

2:23 Imagine you lived long ago and that you are one of the people who think the earth is flat. Don’t blame yourself too much—it’s a culturally accepted assumption of the time. Remember, you do not imagine it could be any other way, and the earth’s flatness is quite observable: when you stand on high ground and look out, you can see the landscape going on into the distance quite horizontally. Yep, it’s flat all right. When someone leaves your village and travels as far as anyone you’ve known, they come back pretty much by the same route. Things have always been this way, and it all makes sense to you and everyone you know.

2:24 Actually, the idea of a flat world fits pretty well with what we can personally observe about up and down, here and there. In fact, it fits better than a round one. If I drop a ball to the ground from the upper window of my house, and you drop a ball from the upper window of your house across the valley, and John drops a ball from his house in a faraway town, there is no reason to suspect that the ground each ball hits is not on the same general plane or level. We could easily assume that this ground is the same flat piece of dirt (with bumps) all across the earth. This flat earth also translates well to a flat piece of paper—much better than trying to make a global map flat.

2:25 And consider this: although we all “know” it’s true, who among us takes the time to even imagine that we are currently spinning around at roughly 25,000 miles per hour? Or that in space “up” and “down” don’t exist? Even though we believe it’s a fact that the earth is round and spinning, we generally live every day as if the sun rises and sets, moving from one side of our flat piece of terrain to the other. Even in the face of our current beliefs on these matters, our daily view actually ignores them and functions instead within the same perceptual “reality” that was so for people in times past. The idea of a flat, stationary world is not as farfetched as we make it seem. It is only our cultural arrogance and fear of being seen as ignorant that compels us to place such notions in the category of foolish old misconceptions.

2:26 Now once again, pretend that you live in an era in which everyone assumes the world is flat, but this time, try to imagine that you yourself aren’t so certain that it is flat. Since we live in a time in which we are told the earth is round, it’s pretty easy to imagine that we don’t know the earth is flat. But take the time and use your imagination to pretend in earnest and make it real. Rather than just thinking about it, really get it as if it’s an experience you’re having in this moment. Try to feel as if everyone around you knows the world is flat. No one ever really had to sit you down and explain it; you just know it along with everyone else. But for some reason, you no longer feel certain. You refuse to unquestioningly believe the current cultural presumptions, choosing instead to admit that you don’t really know what shape the earth is.

2:27 What are you left with? What occurs in your mind and perspective? Probably the possibility of the earth’s roundness arises, even if you wouldn’t think of it at the time. As a matter of fact, all sorts of possibilities can arise. Maybe it’s a cube, or a half-sphere, or maybe it has a different nature from anything conceivable. It’s wide open. This is the nature and power of not-knowing.

2:28 To investigate further, it’s important to use a current assumption about which you feel certain, and yet not something you’d find too hard to let go. You can try not-knowing anything you like, but a round planet serves well. Explore your own direct understanding of the earth. Without using hearsay or secondhand images, experience that you do not actually perceive the shape of the earth. When you do this, what do you get? If you don’t notice a shift in your awareness of some sort, work on it until you do. Get that in this moment you personally do not actually know what shape the planet is.

I refuse to be intimidated by reality anymore. What is reality? Nothing but a collective hunch.

—Lily Tomlin

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The Book of Not Knowing, Chapter Two, Moving Beyond belief

Peter Ralston