Approaches to the Unknown

The word, ‘known’ indicates that which has been possessed. It is not tangible but it is an abstract object. You can tell you possess an abstract object when you recognize the concept’s presence. The vacant space gets filled. In fact this vacant space is in itself abstract and you realize this the moment you understand a concept. Till then you do not know the existence of this vacant space. You can never really be sure of how many vacant spaces there are. The moment you mentally recognize the presence of a vacant space, it becomes a concept. The vacant space is thought off as there to be filled with something that is not yet known. This is why the unknown cannot exist as a concept. To be a concept it would have to be something that you think exists shielded by mist. You would need to see an attempt from the other side of the mist from a being trying to penetrate your mind.

Visibility is not all. You are yet to understand what you see. If a child sees a dollar or a rupee is he/she seeing the value of it or just the note with a symbol?

The symbol has consumed us. Although we refer to one another as consumers of products, is the value of a product reducible to currency? On the one hand, products are consumed by us and on the other we are consumed by notes and symbols. The dimension of consumerism operates on the semantics of market rate and this has come to define the concept of money.

The lack of experience offers a basis for the unknown. Then gaining experience is an approach to understanding what it is that you need to know. If you want to buy a house then that is when you understand what loans are, what real estate is and what the value of a land is, albeit from your perspective and the nature of the assets involved. The need of the hour is an approach to the unknown.

If you own it, you know it. Ownership is another way of befriending the unknown. You order a book; it finds its way into your shelf. What goes into the journey of ownership? There is a transaction involved and you are part and parcel of that transaction. Every interaction in this process is a transaction. You read a review of the book, there is an interest generated, you look at various sources and when the book reaches you, you find out if the journey was worth it or not. Your reading leads to a response and you have to absorb it in order to respond and the whole process is a learning experience. Owning is an approach to the unknown.

‘’Fear of the unknown” is a natural obstacle. What is it that you fear? The dimensions are not clear. If there is fear of the unknown, then it seems to indicate that there is some aspect about it which is known. How else would the intimidation arise? There are notions about the nature of the ‘unknown’. One is that, it could be difficult to learn. If you feel that you would struggle to learn then a resistance is offered by you. The ‘unknown’ is found to be challenging when the question of capacity is raised. There are other subjective approaches to the unknown. We may declare that different approaches bring out a variety of perspectives.