I listened to a little girl this morning, telling how she wondered why people cry when they are upset, and cry when they are happy. She became angry that she did not know, and this made her cry.
We have a terrible urge to know everything.
I suffered greatly from this as a young man. I was in a fever to know everything about everything. I remember a conversation with classmates, when we discussed a visit to the university we had made, to prepare us for attending. We were stunned by the huge library, and by being told this was only the tip of the iceberg. We had imagined we were going to university to learn everything there was to know about science. We were shocked and disappointed by the truth.
It is understandable that a child cannot discriminate between what is necessary to know and what is not. A deep drive to learn everything seems to be nature's response. This causes us great disquiet.
As we grow older, we perforce learn to put away this childish desire. Yet still it lurks within us, working mischief. How much of the world's troubles are caused by people pretending to know things they really don't, because they can't stand to admit their ignorance, even to themselves?
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