"My candidate for apotheosis, for the divine spark that transubstantiates brain into mind and spirit, is-the humble question.

We are unfinished animals, biologically endowed at birth with a brain but destined to become self-conscious and self-creating. The informing principle of all life, the cosmic DNA-call it God, Nature, or the indwelling creative principle-does a strange trick with humans. It implants an impulse that will carry us beyond its own programming. We are created to be self-transcending. What is unique about human beings is that at the heart of our DNA lies the necessity of freedom, the potential to become something that is not yet defined. We are driven to transcend old boundries and limits, to surpass the biologically given conditions of our lives. Of necessity we transcend "nature"-the imposed reign of instinct and automatic response-and become creatures of mind and spirit. As missionary Katherine Hapburn in "The African Queen" says to Humphrey Bogart, "nature is what we are put here to rise above".

What shapes our lives are the questions we ask, refuse to ask, or never think of asking. The question is the helmsman of consciousness. Our minds, bodies, feelings, relationships are all informed by our questions. The complex network of neurons that make up a mind are as individual as our fingerprints. What makes me Sam Keen rather than Alan Greenspan are the questions that give shape to my life. I do not wake up, spend each day thinking about interest rates, the consumer price index, or the ratio between the dollar and the yen. The questions we ask determine wether we will be superficial or profound, acceptors of status quo or searchers. The difference between Einstein and Hitler depended on the questions they asked. What you ask is who you are. What you find depends on what you search for.

Imagine the different type and quality of life you would have if the questions you asked when you got up each morning were the following: Where can I get my next fix of heroin? What will the neighbors think? What happened during the Big Bang when the world was created? Who will ove me? How do I get power? How can we destroy our enemy? How can we end violence? Where will I spend eternity? How can I make enough money? Who are my friends? How can I be comfortable? Is my cancer curable? How can I become famous? How do we heal the earth? Where can I get food for my children?

To become a questioner is to enter a philosophical life and to make a commitment to search for wisdom rather than certainty. Philosophy is a wrestling match with angels in which we are always wounded, a struggle with questions that can never be answered with any finality.

THe first stage in the process of becoming a lover of questions is to discover the unconscious answers-myths, ideologies, values-that have informed our lives thus far and, therefore, what questions we have been taught to ask and to ignore.

In the beginning are the answers. From the moment of birth onward, an infant is subjected to an elaborate system of cultural indoctrination. An encompassing symbolic world of rituals, celebrations, games, modes of worship, folktales, and myths teaches the unconscious child the implicit catechism, the socially sanctified answers to questions about the meaning of life. We are taught the accepted predjudices long before we learn the skills of discenrment. As the song tells us "We have to be taught, before we are six, seven or eight, to hate all the people our relatives hate".

The majority of people in any stable culture are more or less true believers in the consensus. They reach adulthood and ask "how will I make a living? Will I marry? Have a family? What is my duty? How can I be a good citizen of my community?". Most adults find answers to their questions about the meaning of life and their ultimate destiny in the shared beliefs of the people around them. They live and die within the horizons of myth, accept the answers, the institutions, the authorities, the ideology, the heroes and villains, the values, the world view and politics of their parents and peers.

In the unexamined life that is the lot of the majority, the questions to which the cultural consensus are answers remains unconscious. The cultural catechism is implicit within the accepted mythic horizon of symbols, rituals, heroes and villains. Compare. for instance, the catechism that is presented in a medieval cathedral and an NFL football game. Both are mythic systems that offer implicit answers to the questions: What is the chief end of man? What gives happiness? What are the heroic virtues? One celebrates Jesus as the model of masculinity and Mary as the essence of femininity, the other the winning quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers and a Dalls Cowboy Cheerleader as the archetypes of man and woman. A stained glass window with a portrait of a saint and the Trump Tower are both advertisements for the ideal life.

The difficulty with living submerged within the cultural myth is that it tends to limit the developement of the mind and spirit.

When the mind wraps itself in a security blanket of answers, the brain closes down its quest, moves away from adventure and ceases to expand its system of pathways. Thought becomes received and recycled opinion and travels round and round the familiar highways-repitition compulsion. Living within the closed circuitry of The Answer, within cultural orthodoxy, stunts the brain, sends the electric spark through the same old neural pathways. The result is a mind captive to tape loops, fixed ideas, and complexes, oedipal or otherwise. Unconscious beliefs bind us to a life of opinion, second hand experience, and habitual ways of responding to problems and crises.

Fortunately the human spirit is a cultural outlaw that is always smashing boundries, violating rules, breaking taboos, and stealing fire from the authorities. Something in us does not rest easy with easy answers. Something drives certain individuals beyond the inherited and imposed limits of biology and culture. This restless ness has myriad names: The Logos, the divine spark, "the exigence to transcend"(Marcel).

Whoever is touched by this divine daemon is destined to wrestle with an angel, in order to win a mind, a name, a spirit. To recover your birthright to the adventure of becoming an individual, throw the net of your inquiring mind as wide as possible. Here, for instance, are some of the great philosophical questions we must consider in order to situate our lives within the widest horizon.

Who am I? How do I become the unique self that is my destiny? How do I win my freedom from biological necissity and from the myth my culture has imposed on my body, mind, and spirit? Where did I come from? What is the origin of life? My life? Why is there something rather than nothing? Why is a cow? What is the end-the finis, the telos, the fulfillment-toward which nature(and history) is moving? What is the goal of my life? For what may I hope? Is there a post mortem existence? Of the soul? of the body? What is my vocation? What are my gifts? How do I contribute to life? Who are my people? With whom do I belong? Who is the we of I? Who are my enemies? How close should I be to mother, father, sister, brother, wife, friend, enemy? Who is in charge? Whom should I obey? Who are the authorities? What are the rules? What ought I do? Why?

Why is ther evil? Why do the good suffer and the evil prosper? Is ther ultimate justice? Punishment, reward? What should I do to reduce the quantity of evil?

What is the map of life? What are the stages along the way? How should I conduct myself as a child, a youth, an adult, an elder?

What is wrong with me? WIth human beings? WHy this disease? Why are we self-defeating? What would we be like if we were whole? What can we do to be healed?

Are we alone in the universe? Does God play dice with the universe? Is there a suprahuman caring intelligence?

Obviously there are no authoratative answers to these enduring questions. So, why ask them? Why not stick to questions about matters of fact-"shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings", profit and loss, and who will win the super bowl? We do not cultivate a questioning mind in order to receive answers but to save ourselves from a life of premature closure and cultural captivity. TO love the great philosophical questions is to be reminded that the life we are given is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be explored, suffered, and enjoyed."

Sam Keen Spirituality and Health Magazine, Spring 2000 issue

My response later. Love this article.

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), June 15, 2000

Answers

It's as if the author cracked open my skull & peeked inside. I wish I had written that essay. Truth is I've thought it & experienced it & rejected it & ignored it & absorbed it & raged at it (and smoked it).

Today is a good one for fine essays. Thanks FS. Remarkable piece.

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), June 15, 2000.

Thanks FS. I love this sort of article. Never having been one to march lockstep with the beliefs of my family, or friends, or spouse, or religion, or educators, I too have questioned, imagined, experienced, rejected, ignored, embraced, raged, back-pedaled, changed my mind and pondered a million questions all my life.

To me, the unexamined, unquestioned life wouldn't be worth living.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 15, 2000.

Brilliant stuff and a great catch Future. I find that the older I get the more the following maxim becomes my guiding mantra: To be truly modern, one must become truly ancient. Or to simplify, as a monument in Washington. D.C. solemnly intones: Study the Past. Amen to that. Writing like this is what this forum was supposed to be all about.

-- William Wallace (braveheart@highlands.com), June 15, 2000.

modern man,s problem>>thinks too much--faith,s too little.

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), June 15, 2000.

I'm in trouble. I can't get beyond:

What's for lunch?

Why is that bimbo still working here?

and

Where is the $#@%^*& bug in this program?!?

-- (kb8um8@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

FS,

Very deep stuff today.Like most people,many of these questions have been entertained by me off and on throughout my lifetime.At some point though I began to question the questioning,it seemed more logical to enjoy the simple things and quit trying to solve quagmires that have baffled men and women sinse the beginning of time.Not that I am saying they are not worthy and pertinent questions,but,does the time and energy spent in their pursuit diminish the quality of today.

It seemed in a way to me like the dog chasin' his tale,just can't seem to catch it unless he lays down.Yes I still occassionaly visit these thoughts,but not with the tenacity I used to.

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 15, 2000.

Duh.... T A I L : |

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 15, 2000.

If a beer bottle falls off of a conveyor belt in a beer factory, and no one is around to hear it, does it make a noise?

What beer do women want?

Is a beer sometimes really just a beer?

Is it possible that the entire universe is just a speck floating in someone in another demension's beer?

Should a man live a full and adventurous life having never sipped a beer, has he truly lived?

Was beer given to us by God, or did it evolve?

-- Uncle Deedah (unkeed@yahoo.com), June 15, 2000.

Capn--

This too has been my evolution.

-- (lars@indy.net), June 15, 2000.

Some of us HAVE questioned and examined this life....and came to know the truths of the bible.

Please don't assume that anyone who has faith is some sort of mindless automaton.

-- Christer (jesus@found.me!), June 15, 2000.

Unk,

"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal labotomy" : )

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 15, 2000.

Good to see you CapnFun amd Unc-have not seen a lot of you guys lately. The fact that I posted this essay does not mean I agree with it implicitly. I rever everyone's approach-born again christians as well as atheists and agnostics. We are all one-we cannot be anything else, and therefore all of our choices are inspired by that unity. I choose to call to task anyone who tells me I should think or act a particular way-that m ay be my weakness, but I want you all to know I do cherish your choice.

While I believe keeping an open mind is the healthiest way to proceed, I have to accept those who have found all the "answers" they need-but unfortunately many who have found all the "answers" will try to forcefeed them down other's throats.

To CapnFun-Godspeed. I still choose to question as it still serves me in my personal growth-It does not take up the day for me-it IS the day for me-I am in constant wonder at the existence known as being human-it is a constant source of jot to revel in diversity. It is a joy to discover that something I cherished for 20 years proves to no longer serve me-I never want to lose the sense of wonder I have had since I was a child. That is why I do not stop the questions.

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), June 15, 2000.

FS,

I question things to hell and back,but I don't want it to become my lifes purpose or mission,the *very* sane could drive themselves quite insane by remaining locked into the GREAT what if's and ??? of life,IMHO and experience.

We all will find our own paths in life and in the shoes that feel the most comfortable,me I like sandals.But the best thing about it is that there are a 1001 different kinds of shoes.

Be good to one another : )

-- capnfun (capnfun1@excite.com), June 15, 2000.

Nawwh, I don't make it my life's mission to understand everything. But I sure enjoy the "what ifs." Playing what if is great entertainment.

My dog rolled in something dead today, and I talked mean to him and put him in the pen. He looked so miserable that I wondered if rolling in a dead possum is the equivalent of a nice scented bath for us.

I'm constantly amazed at how smart animals are. Actually, I find animals and nature as interesting as people, and much nicer to be around.

-- gilda (jess@listbot.com), June 15, 2000.

In perfect dark, where in the hell is the drop point equipment in mision 3, chicago stealth?

-- ed (edrider007@aol.com), June 15, 2000.

"To become a questioner is to enter a philosophical life and to make a commitment to search for wisdom rather than certainty"

That's pretty lucid, nice thoughts throughout too. Appreciate the article FS.

-- Will (righthere@home.now), June 16, 2000.

Many are the questioners in search of wisdom, few are those who will recognize it.

-- Ra (tion@l.1), June 16, 2000.

Gilda, my dogs come in the house with perfume every so often. It is a joy for them, me thinks. Frankie (the dullard) seems to take great pleasure in rolling on dead bird carcasses. I used to bathe the smelly one right away, but for the past few years I've allowed them to wear their odor for awhile - or until my wife can't take it anymore. Why interfere with them being dogs as long as it doesn't negatively affect my (the alpha dog) life. And let's face it, perspective is the real key as to how we experience events. I am proud of them. They do their best for me, provide me with much needed unconditional love. OK, they put up with me because I cook for them. I'm not completely delusional!

FS: I still choose to question as it still serves me in my personal growth-It does not take up the day for me-it IS the day for me

Beautifully stated. To deny these questions which bubble up from within would be to destroy myself. That's a great part of why I drank booze long & often for many years. Deny thyself, destroy thyself.

Best,

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), June 16, 2000.

Thanks, FS, for a beautiful testimony to the potential within us.

That being said, I have one major quibble (is it possible to have a "major quibble?"):

Anyway, the author states, "To become a questioner is to enter a philosophical life and to make a commitment to search for wisdom rather than certainty."

I think the author errs here, because the quest for wisdom should itself be a quest for certainty. I mean, even if you have little expectation for certainty in your quest for wisdom, you're still hopeful -- or at least hopeful that you'll get a little closer -- right? I guess I need an example of a quest for wisdom, where the individual has no desire for certainty.

But, in reading on, it seems as if he's urging us to not fear the quest, just because the questions may be difficult or intimidating, or the resolution appears highly improbable. At least I hope that's what he means.

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), June 16, 2000.

Perhaps certainty is inherent to wisdom, eve. Whereas the latter isn't inherent to the former. Just a thought.

-- Bingo1 (howe9@shentel.net), June 16, 2000.

eve:

I am an example of one who has a quest for wisdom and not certainty. It is an old expression that it is the "journey and not the destination" that is important. I am ready and willing to give up my entire world view if another presented itself to me and that other more clearly expressed who I am today. If I were to look for certainty, I might miss out on something wonderful, some entirely new solution, because I was "certain" that the answer I currently held was the "right" one.

I believe wisdom comes after one realizes there is no "right"; the only constant is that nothing is constant. As one grows in the spirit, one realizes that different answers to the same question may be apparent over time.

This is why I am not so zealous about "the truth" anymore. I have been there; I have been rigid and fundamentalist in my thinking. I do not wish to return.

-- FutureShock (gray@matter.think), June 16, 2000.

Mornin', FS and Bingo 1,

Bingo 1,

Your brief comment is right on! Just because something's certain doesnt mean its wise. But if you have wisdom, its assumed your wisdom is certain. If certainty is truth, and wisdom isnt certain, then the wisdom wouldnt be true, which I think would be a contradiction in terms. But if you see my comment below, to FS, certainty may not necessarily even equate to truth.

I think Id better stop now, and ask: Do you follow my reasoning? Because when I first read my post over, I went huh? :)

FutureShock,

Your post poses many tantalizing issues.

First, when you said, most clearly expressed who I am today arent you saying, in other words, made me more certain who I am today?

Then you said, If I were to look for certainty, I might miss out on something wonderful, some entirely new solution, because I was certain that the answer I currently held was the right one. FS, I think we can be certain and still be open to new information that might require us to reevaluate our positions. So, we can be certain even if the certainty is untrue, because we can err at any step in the process of gathering evidence or thinking. Or, science can discover something new.

With all due respect, FS, I completely disagree with your comment, there is no right. I mean, some things must have been done right to create the computer youre in front of. And even your statement wouldn't hold, because I can respond, Is that right?

-- eve (eve_rebekah@yahoo.com), June 17, 2000.