Clarity

Clarity is a lie.

We search for it and we strive for it, but we know, deep down, true clarity will never be achieved. In fact, the more we search for clarity, the more elusive it becomes. Clarity cannot be achieved for a few reasons. For any issue, there are infinite observations that we do not have the time or ability to make. Additionally, there is the error term from the unpredictable world and our imperfect mind that can be so encompassing that many of our choices become pure gambles.

Philosophers have known it for millennia. Socrates said, “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.” Physicists have found natural barriers (i.e. the Heisenberg uncertainty principle). Economists have whatever is on the other hand. We all have regret and wonder about the road not taken. Not to mention, we have a tendency to see greener grass on other sides of fences.

Still, every so often, I run into people who claim they have clarity. They come in many forms. There’s the businessman who claims he knows how to make money and which way the market is going. There’s the politician who is certain they can fix society with a law. There’s the born-again who claims they have found bliss in an unapparent higher power. There’s the lover who thinks that his spouse, parent or child are the greatest ever. The one I deal with the most, as of late, is the person that claims they love and are perfectly suited for their vocation.

When we meet these charlatans that peddle clarity, we role our eyes. Are they trying to fool us into thinking they have insight or are they trying to fool themselves? How on earth, when the fog is so incredibly thick, can they claim they can see for miles? The world is so vast with so many opportunities, perspectives and choices. How can they claim they have chosen correctly?

We assume they are either tricksters, deluded, naïve or arrogant. And we are right, they are. Still, they anger us. They remind us how frustrating the world is and, because of our lack of clarity, a small part of us wonders if they are right.

But we should remember that lack of clarity is not solely a curse. Lack of clarity also leads to possibilities. The future is unknown and so we experience wonderful and exciting things like hope and anticipation. The world is still puzzle to be solved with things to learn every day. The open-mind accepts that it does not know everything, but it is willing to try. In fact, a supposedly clear world can only come from a narrow mind that arrogantly thinks that it has already reviewed every possibility.