Birth, Death and Acts of God are the certainties of life. All the rest is up to us.

Charles Darwin

The scary part: That leaves living, dying and coping to define who we are and how wise, respected and valued we are to others as we co-exist through the rest of our lives. How will we cope? The danger signs:

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge. It is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." Charles Darwin

In other words, the less we know, the more sure we know it all.  The more we know, the less sure we have all the answers, recognize the need to keep learning and have the capacity and desire to do so.


Birth is easy. We don't even remember. And death... to my knowledge, no one has ever made it out alive, so que sera, sera. (What will be, will be.)

"The dumbest are those who know it all." Malcolm Forbes

It is the 'Acts of God' (or nature if you prefer)... they define us. Think global warming. Ignore it if you aren't smart enough to read the signs, but our last 20 years have been, year after year, the warmest in all known history. The ice caps are melting and our poisons fill the air. At this time there are more than 8 billion people on earth. Just 200 years ago, we were only 1billion. We are projected to be 11 billion by 2100. You get the idea. Humans and increased technology extract their progress on the back of global litter and it is unwise to ignore. Call it global warming or not, the end result, without change, is upon us.

"It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows." Epictetus (Greek stoic philosopher, 50 AD - 135 AD)

Pandemics have been a part of us since the beginning of time and they will continue as we fight our way to understanding the wise responses necessary to survive them. We haven't faired all that well.  There have been more than 5,000 United States covid-19 deaths just during the days of the RNA convention, for example--more than twice the number of casualties as at the Twin Towers-- and over 180,000 deaths to date and growing. We lead the world by a big number in that department. We are lucky technology is rapidly developing the knowledge and capability to advance medically, but we will be tested again and again.

"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." Confucius

Hurricanes and tornados are growing more frequent and stronger. Forest fires are eating our lunch as conditions for their spread are more favorable for these 'Acts of God' every year. Will the wisdom of our leaders and the mass of humanity learn survival as our world spins faster under our feet? Old time comedian Groucho Marx was prophetic in his outrageous way: "Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.""

"Humility will teach you knowledge, arrogance will teach you ignorance. If you think you know it all, you have learned nothing." Thibuat (eminent Sanskrit scholar and noted philosophy professor, 1905)

We have found cures for many diseases that kill us, thank goodness, but that is a never-ending demand. Illness chases us as we learn to live with handicaps of body and brain.

Albert Einstein

"Any fool can know. The point is, to understand." Einstein, who also said "The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."

Then there are bad hair days and liars and haters and fixers and bribe takers and cheaters and con artists even before we include the biases of race and religion and political divisiveness, the poor and underprivileged, the rich who we empower so good can  'trickle down' and the underserved who catch far too little, the unbalance of wealth to opportunity (the top 10 percent richest own 84 percent of all stock) and the shrinking middle class, the homeless and uninsured, unable to help themselves, despite their efforts. to any great degree.

The humanity caveat: I have never doubted the overwhelming good of humankind that is universally seen and experienced. I believe it with all my heart.  But bad actors have far too great an influence, and a tacit immunity, for bad outcomes.

Are we the kind of smart this world so desperately needs or do we follow those who already know it all? The choices are always ours if we pay attention.