You Don't Know Jack...

Hanging out with old friends is always so peculiar...

I knew all of these people, probably better than they liked, when we were in highschool. we were mostly inseparable, especially the few of us who really made up our "gang" (a sect within the nerd-herd) really did everything together...we had every class together, cross country after school, we hung out after that...we did alot of things together and I made some good friends when I was in high school.

But all things change

We all went to college, slight dilemma with being in a magnet program, everyone gets into the school of their choice and we mostly went off to our respective corners of the country to make new lives. I was never really one for talking on the phone...the result? I have hardly talked to these people in 4 years.

And now it seems like I hardly know the people who I used to know best...but I think of a line from The Rules of Attraction. Lauren yells at Sean "What does that mean know me, know me, nobody ever knows anybody else, ever!" Maybe she's right. Even the people you know best, do you really know what they think? What motivates them, what causes them to think and act in the ways they do? Did you know in marketing studies people will pick one identical shirt over another most of the time if it's on the right? I think people hardly know themselves what motivates them or influences their choices. People spend their entire lives trying to figure themselves out, I mean fuck, I don’t really know what I want...I may have in inkling but I've spent 22 years trying to figure it out. How can we expect anyone else to really "know" us? It seems like an impossible task.

In the end...it is a troubling thought, but in doing philosophy I've realized that philosophy is the art of answering questions which can’t be answered. You can take comfort in gaining insight into a question, even if we know the "answer" can never really be attained. We may never really "know" our friends, our families or even ourselves but the process of learning about them, and ourselves, is a rewarding one and the insight we gain, although never complete, is always comforting none the less.

Tell people what you really think, ask your friends what they believe, get into your families' heads. Really getting to know someone can be uncomfortable...the uncertain road to knowledge always is, but the place we're going is always better.