How Little We Know

Every year brings with it new discoveries in our knowledge of the world.

A physicist figures out how to split new particles from presently split particles. A chemist concocts a brand new chemical with the most dazzling of effects. A biologist uncovers new swathes of genes responsible for causing obesity.

For the most part I feel that we're living in pretty modern times. Modern in the sense that we are in control of the world, we're grasping it bit by bit and we're bound to unravel all there is unravel. I mean, we have planes, rockets, cars and boats to traverse the landscape in all three dimensions. That's modern right? We have the Internet, Facebook. That's gotta be modern right? We're advancing so much that the polar ice caps are melting. Please tell me that's us being modern, not the polar bears.

But really, at the end of the day I can't help but to realize that everything we know about science and technology is only what we think we know. Our knowledge are no more than careful assumptions about how things work, tested through experiments and proven by logic. Which means we'll never be 100% sure of ourselves. At least these were some of the things that ran through my mind as I read Newsweek's recent article on cancer.

As much as we have progressed in the last few thousands of years, the living bodies in which we inhabit still prove to be the most challenging mystery yet to solve. Being alive is something that I believe we will never be able to fully comprehend. Words cannot explain it, pictures cannot illustrate it. Alive. Almost like magic, but far greater. How much do we really know then?


I am a living person. Can someone please tell me who designed me?