Paradox

I haven't posted on anything more or less not "me" related in a while. So I figured I'd ruminate a bit on something interesting presented in class.

Sean did a presentation on paradox today that succeeded in removing some fog from my idea of what a "paradox" must be. Previous to this discussion, I always thought a paradox was something that contradicts itself. Turns out it's the opposite. A paradox is something that seems false, but in actuality is true. For example, the common aphorsim "sometimes you have to hurt someone to help him" seems false, but in most cases it can be true. (and now that I'm back from a ten minute excursion into the land of paradoces, let's continue)

In general, the apparent falsehood of a paradox disappears when it's viewed from a new vantage point. Makes me think of a quote by Einstein to the affect of, "No problem may be solved at the level of understanding which caused it." So, if you have a 5 year old child that doesn't understand that the same volume may have different heights / widths / lenghts(here, about half way down the page), you will come accross a seeming contradiction that resolves into a paradox. Though it SEEMS that the two containers couldn't possibly hold the same amount of water, they CAN. Simply because the level of understanding that formulated the problem can't solve it, this paradox becomes a contradiction. One that may only be solved by raising oneself to a new, higher level of understanding. Fascinating.

And therefore, the development of a person intellectually may be seen as a move to make more contradictions into paradoces. Or to move further from intuition to rationality. And then beyond. Because there's always a beyond.

One of my favorite paradoces is one stated by, you guessed it, Ken Wilber. He states that as you become "enlightened" (what a loaded word that is), the suffering of the world hurts you more but bothers you less. That seems to make no sense, from the unenlightened worldview that I inhabit. But he then goes on to explain that as you become enlightened, you feel the pain of each and every person as your own, as acutely as ever. But at the same time, you realize that this existence, this "reality" is just a dream. And you then have two options. Either you can go around in this dream and try and help ease people's suffering, ore you can just wake up and realize that it's all just a dream.

What a beautiful resolution to the paradox that is existentialism.

And once again, I serve as nothing more than a mouthpiece for one greater than myself. I really have to work on that. :)

Namaste.