Why?

by Michael Mitteer

"Why?" A simple question, eh? Then why, could someone tell me, is it so hard for us to say? Why can't we bring ourselves to question accepted values, or accepted beliefs? Rather, we can, but only when politically correct. Afterall, looking at something objectively just isn't right anymore, is it? We live in a world with no certainties, no perfect truths- why, then, can we not bring ourselves to question everything? Why must we accept everything thrown at us? Are we truly that blind to the world, are we truly that engraved with blissful ignorance that we'd rather not shake things up? Tell me… why?

Whatever happened to philosophy? Philosophy in the sense of being a "lover of knowledge." Sure, we do ask questions… but do we ever attempt to go deeper into them; and if we do, are we willing to try to ask the unaskable? People, nowadays, refuse to question things. This is not due to a lack of questions able to be asked; there are now more than ever. This is not due to a fear of being incorrect, either. The fear, sadly, is the fear of being correct. We want our happy little "Utopian" society, don't we? We want everything to be as it is, and accepted as true. We no longer ask questions which have no answers, we are far too fearful of the truths they may reveal about ourselves or our society as a whole. So what happened to philosophy, then? It was swallowed up in the trivialities of the world, the naivete of our fellowships, and the consciousness of what we know as reality.

I want to make you uncomfortable not by knowing… but by thinking. By thinking freely. By extending beyond our circumstances, our supposed knowledge of the universe around us, and have ourselves thrown upon the beauty of nothingness. Of pure, unadulterated thought. Believe nothing, dispute everything. Do we want to be known as the apathetic visage of our former glory which was contained in Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, Confucius, etc? Do we want to be the 'middle child' of history? We are known as caring for nothing but the material, not worrying ourselves with questions which can't be answered. This makes sense, upon first look, eh? Obviously, most would say, there's no point in questioning things when they're supposedly true, or have no answer.

That's where they're wrong. If we do not question everything, there will be answers to everything. If there's an answer to every question, why live? To quote Socrates: "The unexamined life is not a life for a human being." We question that which we know because we KNOW nothing. In fact, we only know that we exist. To quote Descartes: "I think, therefore I am." That is all I know, all you know, all ANYONE knows. The only thing you can prove to yourself is that you exist, correct? Afterall, how do you go about proving that I exist? I could be nothing. I could be a mere memory, a dream, or a program running in your mind; or outside of this place. You can prove nothing, therefore must question it all. The second half of this—why question things which have no answers? Well, being as there are no truths (only the truths we suppose to be true, ah the irony), then everything is an opinion. Opinions are the only things which matter. Afterall, it's not the answer that matters so much as the question.

So, then, this is what I ask of you. Ask a question about something you thought you knew today. Find out as much as you can about it. Examine it. Tear it apart. Think, for once…really think. Then believe what you want, because that's the only way you will ever advance your mind. We are rational beings, we are sentient beings, we are human— It is what separates us from everything else, why not use the power of "Why?" Go out there and question everything. Challenge everything. With all your intellect, rage against the here and now. Face 'truth', and prove it wrong to yourself. This is how we will be different from our older generations. Let us start, right here, right now. With me.