Testing

I'm not romantic. According to Google, to romanticize means to "deal with or describe in an idealized or unrealistic fashion; make (something) seem better or more appealing than it really is." Romanticizing is committing to inaccuracies. Romantics forget, overlook or don't see the negative. Optimistic in their outlook and memory, they are often the dreamers, theorists, wondering how things can be better, bigger, stronger. I recognize the value of these people. I know they are necessary to our collective growth. I simultaneously admit, I have little patience for tolerating romantic stories and speech.

I am prone to pragmatism. Pragmatic (via Google) means "dealing with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations." Sometimes confused with pessimists or realists, pragmatists (I believe) also look for solutions to faults, but without the hope in something unseen. As a pragmatic Now-ist (described in a previous article), I tend toward an approach of Since… then…, as opposed to What if…. In spite of this, I also subscribe to the saying, "Ignorance is bliss." I'm pondering whether or not that's a dichotomy.

Among Yoda's famous words are "Do or do not. There is no try." I like to say, One tries something in court. Otherwise, we test or attempt. I think whoever wrote the Star Wars script was highlighting that sometimes thinking or considering too much can paralyze us, if we are unable to take productive steps. Try and test, though are partially synonymous. There are many variations on the use of the word test and there's a lot of talk about testing right now. There are many kinds of testing: tests for COVID-19 or antibodies, tests for PEDs, tests in school. Circumstances or people test our resolve, our patience or even our loyalty. We test each other's and our own knowledge and skill. Testing is discovery. Trying is revealing. These two words are somewhat connected.

test: the means by which the presence, quality, or genuineness of anything is determined; a means of trial

try: to test the quality, value, fitness, accuracy, etc., of

to put to a severe test; subject to strain, as of endurance, patience, affliction, or trouble; tax

If we test or try, we are committing to increasing our knowledge. Knowledge is power and, with power, comes responsibility. Are we skilled and prepared to handle the responsibility that comes with this insatiable desire to test? I think of the Bible's account of creation. The Bible indicates when God created humans to be in the world, everything else was in place. All systems were go, so their main instruction was not to eat from the tree of life, nor from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In the freshly created ecosystem of the universe, the humans were to be mortal and humans were not to know whether something was good or bad. Humans (while only two in number) were to be dependent on their creator and his creation. It seems, from the scriptures, that time period was short. Soon, humans were tempted to be like God, by knowing, and they disobeyed their directive.

I look around at the part of society in which I live and it looks like humans keep wanting to know and keep wanting to label good and bad. You may not endorse the Bible as I do, but I imagine you'd be hard pressed to argue effectively that people don't want to know stuff so they can judge what's good and bad. I don't believe we were created to know stuff; we were created to know God (and each other because each of us reveals a different facet of God.) That clearly doesn't mean we don't get to know stuff. I've had the opportunity to discover a lot of stuff over the years and I can certainly come across as judgemental. You and I can't have the authority to make many decisions regarding what systems in society will test. We can decide what we will test and try. When the stuff that's discovered makes things seem hopeless, I can't change the results or the feelings. I can rely on the creator to have the authority and the skill necessary to keep me whether I know stuff or not. I can't sensibly say that all testing is pointless or without merit. I can say, Ignorance is bliss; maybe even holy.