I know that I know nothing

 

I learned that I know nothing when I began to middle age. And I deliberately said "began to middle age" as opposed to "turned middle age." Since you don't really know how long you are going to live, pinpointing middle age for any one person is difficult. 

I was actually relieved to discover that I really know nothing. It takes a lot of pressure off of you to know what you are talking about. But there is a paradox in the statement that you know nothing. Because if you truly know nothing, you don't really know for certain you know nothing. But conversely, if you know everything, then you should know that you know nothing, so you don't really know everything.

When I took philosophy in college (a requirement at the Jesuit institution I attended) I became fixated with this concept that, "Those who know, know. But those who don't know, don't know. And those who know, know that those who don't know, don't know. And, of course, those who don't know, don't know that those who know know." See that dog chasing its tail?

I for some reason thought the concept described existentialism. But ChatGPT informs me that it is actually Socratic Philosophy with a dash of Zen Buddhism thrown in.  So I guess I am more Socratic than I ever realized.

It was pursuing the above pun that led me to Socrates' quote about knowing he knew nothing. Ironically, I started out looking for a pun that would support using an image of Napoleon. because I found this super cool little bronze bust of Napoleon at a French antique store yesterday.

The sad thing about the piece is that somehow lost part of its nose (so Napoleon may have cut off his nose to spite his face). The happy thing is that because the nose was clipped the bust sold for a reasonable price and I bought it. It appealed to me for some reason and it was relatively small so it doesn't take up too much space in my office.

But it inspired me (as I mentioned) to create a t-shirt design with a bust of Napoleon. I thought about creating one that read, "A psychic told me I was Napoleon in a past life. That's French to me." But then I realized the actually phrase is "That's Greek to me." So I asked ChatGPT for a list of Greek leaders. Socrates was one of them. That gave me one design, but I didn't want to give up on Napoleon. Finally it came to me.

I'm pretty proud of this one even though those who don't know won't get it. But screw them anyway. They are likely voting for Trump.