Gandhi once said that the seeker after truth should be humbler than dust. Considering that we are made from cosmic dust, and that after our bodies are done living we return to dust, humans are well suited for humility. We believe that when we adopt a humble mindset, we become more open to receiving wisdom. When we are more compassionate toward that which we do not understand, we believe we also become better equipped at finding our way toward truth.
Recognize: Subchapter II.
The Power of Humility
We Know Nearly Nothing
Even the composition of everything around us remains mostly a mystery. The universe is comprised of 5% observable energy + matter and 95% unknown dark energy + matter.
NASA explains that 95% of what’s in the universe is unknown.16 This whopping percentage is the sum of two-thirds dark energy and one-third dark matter.
No human knows where dark energy comes from, or what it is exactly, yet scientists recognize that this energy is responsible for the universe expanding. Dark matter is currently unexplainable. What scientists have observed, however, is the gravity of dark matter. Whatever this strange stuff is, the effect of its gravity is seen by how it pulls on light matter like stars and galaxies. The only reason we know dark matter exists is because stars and galaxies move in relation to this gravitational influence. Yet, dark matter is different than a black hole. In fact, it defies any description beyond being dark. No one has come up with a clearer understanding of the phenomenon and so we’ll have to settle for being a bit clueless as to dark matter’s exact properties for the time being.
This state of puzzlement is completely okay because changing degrees of knowledge about our surroundings is a quality that is naturally baked into our scientific principles. Fundamental to all scientific theories is the knowledge that someday they will be supplanted. Current theories allow us to make reasonably accurate claims about the world and the future, but there is always room for greater understanding. The scientific method has granted us a peek into the true nature of reality. There are incalculable mysteries to uncover. Perhaps some mysteries are conceptually impossible for humans to ever truly understand. Yet, this limitation is no reason
to be disheartened. There’s a great deal of value in the awareness of one’s own ignorance.
Plato recounted his teacher Socrates saying, “I neither know nor think that I know.” In our modern era, this statement has been adapted to, “I know that I know nothing.” In the interest of humility, we are well served to remember how little is still known about areas of research like Earth’s oceans, human brains, and the nature of matter itself. It’s no wonder that we still have much to learn about the complexities and implications of consciousness. To become aware of our own limitations and ignorance is to pause before the beautifully complex composition of life and to marvel at incomprehensible wonders.
Think of Others & Cultivate Belonging
In confronting how little we know, we can create greater space to learn. We gain knowledge when we get out of our own way and work together. We also benefit when we are more considerate of the countless other species living on this planet.
Most of the designs made by humans place humans at the center of importance. This act of hubris can cause considerable harm. To help correct this design flaw, we can learn to
implement xeno-design—or the concept of design with awareness of the other in mind. In this way, we can drastically improve the human-centered systems designed at the expense of workers’ wellbeing, and responsible for wasting untold resources. Through xeno-design practices, we can outline a means of making space for all that exists, thus coming into greater overall balance with the rest of life on Earth.
Professor john a. powell (who directs UC Berkeley’s Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, and who intentionally spells his name in all lower-case to emphasize that one does not take power over another) explains how humans evolve along essential needs to make meaning and belong. The main challenge to belonging occurs through four main areas of separation: from the divine, from nature, from each other, and from oneself. In countering the destructive effects that come from these areas of separation, powell describes how science and spirituality each strengthen a narrative about bridging divides between people and with nature. Pursuing practices that prioritize belonging within communities big and small, will have a tremendously positive impact on the systems that humans design in the future. Human-made systems, like government or economy, must also respect, and account for, the many different experiences a diverse population of people will have throughout life. In other words, the more we acknowledge the commonality of how each of us occupies a subjective reality, the better we can become at creating opportunities for people to feel a sense of belonging in society’s collective reality.
When people struggle to have their basic needs met—like not having access to food, shelter, or hygiene—life takes on a disproportionate degree of suffering. Yet, when these challenges are overcome, and when no injustice is inflicted, there is an abundance of joy to be experienced. The vibrational frequency of bliss is ever present, and can be accessed when the appropriate conditions for thriving life are established. Inspiration and positive vibrations are continuously coursing through a vast array of matter. There, in that groove of goodness, is where we want to focus. There is where we want to grow. There, where the heart, mind, and body synthesize through love, is where we intend to work, improve, and innovate.