*“Understanding is a protean concept in philosophy, and the desire for understanding is pervasive in everyday life. Scientists take it as their goal to understand the world and how it works, teachers and parents hope to transmit understanding to their students and children, and from a political and social point of view we often strive for mutual understanding.” - Stanford Philosophical Encyclopedia Blog Entry May 6, 2021 by Dr. Stephen R. Grimm
Whats the point?
I have gone back and forth, and will likely continue to deliberate towards, wither or not I want or care to understand what it means to understand. I am somewhat contented in my own philosophical exploration (for which I am vastly under-qualified). The human experience of reality is infinitely complex already. I am not sure if the scope of my own philosophy needs to include a “why do I understand or not understand?“. The key word in that sentence being the “why”. Then again, the whole idea of “why” is sort of central to philosophy anyways is it not?
What. a. pickle.
On the other hand the question of “what do I understand or not understand?” Makes a lot of sense. The what in that statement implies a desire for expansion in understanding; but wouldn’t an implicit desire for additional comprehension include a “why” statement. Why doesn’t mine appear to have that property?
Perhaps, I simply lack the capacity to wrap my head around the topic of why. That same lack of capacity doesn’t necessarily have to be the permanent state of my approach to the topic, but it definitely has some tertiary effect towards my current aversion in wanting to work on it. I suppose in a way, by wrestling over this matter, I am sort of working on it… Maybe its the same way that a carpenter would go about cleaning up his shop, sharpening tools, ordering pencils, making statements like “welp, its gonna rain later, better not get started on any projects today just in case”, and generally productively procrastinate in trying to tackle anything challenging (in his estimation or not) at that moment.