"A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep..." (Alexander Pope)

The other night over shrimp in lobster sauce, a friend of mine offered his opinion, without being asked, that humanity in the world now is privileged to be in possession of a lot of knowledge "never before known to man" (which word apparently is the same thing as "humanity"). I politely begged to differ with him; I told him that the fact is we know very little. Humanity should be ready to admit, as Socrates advised, that the only thing they really know is that they know nothing. The proof is that homo erectus (Java man?) knew much more about his world than we know about ours--and he lived thousands or so years ago with a smaller brain; though perhaps not so small as some other acquaintances of mine. Well, perhaps some of my friends know something, but they selfishly have not been forthcoming with their "knowledge." Unlike Socrates, I know a little-- or nothing. I know that 2+2 equals 4, but simple equations like that reach the outer limits of my mathematical acumen. I still have no idea about what makes autos run, planes fly, or motorcycles make such a racket. The chemical periodic table that mystified me in college is still a conundrum to me. I do not know the first thing about making a pipe bomb, nor can I conceive how a Tylenol relieves pain. VCRs, DVDs, I-Pods, Blackbirds, and cell phones are all enigmas to me. Now I would venture to say that most of humanity probably do not know the answers to any of these things either...and some may never have heard of them. Yes--Neanderthal Man knew more about his world than we do about ours! He knew how to make a tool out of stone. (Who does now?) He knew how to get food out of the environment that confronted him. (Only Eagle Scouts can do that) He knew the earth was flat, and he knew how to hunt (I know. Sarah Palin can also.) The old guy didn't have to worry about "issues", or Democrats and Republicans, or terrorists, or where to find a plumber (except in Ohio?). So, homo erectus knew almost everything about his world, while we know only a pittance about ours. No need to pat ourselves on the shoulder.

Now, I know there are those who do not believe in evolution--though they may never have read Darwin's "Origin of Species." And some (though they many nver have read the Bible) would say that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. That may be true, but if God is real, then his day could not have been 24 hours. This is not enough time to do the job that he did. I would say that God's "day" is probably about a billion years, so it really took six billion years to create what we perceive today in the universe, and then on the seventh day (which is probably now) after six billion of our years, he took a nap. With the shape the world is in today, He is probably napping at this very moment. God is too nice a guy to allow all this garbage going on: wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, genocide in the Congo, piracy on the high seas, disease everywhere, global warming, illegal immigration, and the Dow way down. When he awakes (after another 100 million years?). Oh, boy! Will he be surprised. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to the library to learn somethng.