One Big Cat's Cradle

“-who but an idiot has really understood?-” (Ronell)

This quote, discussed briefly in class, raises some interesting questions about mans ability to understand. Is ignorance really bliss? Does Forest Gump understand life better than we do? Maybe we all just think too much and should take things for their face value.

(As a side note, its kind of ironic that Ronell says this, due to the fact that she is a student of Derrida, who is known to overanalyze texts. And doubly ironic that this quote from Ronell is taken from a larger quote by her on irony.)

Take a magic trick for example. The fun of seeing a magic trick lies in the mystery; of not knowing how the trick is done and being amazed by it. To over-think the trick and figure it out essentially ruins it. Yet it is inevitable that when we see a magic trick, we immediately develop multiple theories as to how it’s done. For example, “Maybe there was a trap door underneath.” or “Maybe it was a fake sword.” But the point of a magic trick is not to understand it. Maybe only the idiot understands this.

It’s human nature to want to understand though. If this weren’t one of mankind’s key traits, then religion wouldn’t be a worldwide institution. Going back to the earliest human civilizations, religion was used to explain that which man did not understand. Man has always pondered the questions of life. How does the universe work?, does God exist?, what is my purpose in life?, etc.

Religion in itself can be viewed as a parasite, preying on man’s need to comprehend. It spreads from generation to generation, filling the void in mans head caused by life’s unanswered questions. Without a population of believers, a religion dies. Gods only live on in the minds of people who believe in them. After that, they are but a fictional character in the history of man.

To be fair though, religion is much more than a leeching parasite. Religion offers man sanity, happiness, and comfort in thinking he’s got the world figured out.

The following poem from Kurt Vonnegut’s book Cat’s Cradle relates this idea nicely.

Tiger got to hunt,

Bird got to fly;

Man got to sit and wonder, “Why, why, why?”

Tiger got to sleep,

Bird got to land;

Man got to tell himself he understand.

Religion is one way man can tell himself he understands. Without religion, man would be lost and scared in the unpredictable world around him. People feel safer believing an all-powerful, all-loving being is watching over the world, and that the events in their lives happen for a reason.

The smart man will constantly ponder life, and the sane man will tell himself he understands life.