Beliefs

In Act I, Scene v of Hamlet, Shakespeare has his eponymous hero tell his friend, "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy." I'd have to say I couldn't agree more.

Most of us don't believe in much of anything anymore. Well, I know I still have some pretty firm beliefs, but I'm not so sure about a lot of other folks I know. When I watch the news, surf the net, or simply converse with colleagues and friends, it becomes increasingly apparent that there are just not a lot of things that are believed in anymore. Oh sure, there's the one or the other who profess a deep and abiding love for "the Lord" or Jesus or Mohammed ... but just between you and me, I can't help but think it's more fear than love, but I've always had trouble telling the two apart.

Be that as it may, the hubris of so many people, even those without many beliefs, troubles me even more. If were honest - especially honest with ourselves - we'd admit that we really don't have much of a clue at all. I mean, the universe is a big place and we hardly know anything about it at all. We like to act big and bad and brag about all we know and how Einstein and those guys figured it out and how we're here because of the Big Bang and Darwin clarified how we got here, but the folks who are saying this can't tell you the difference between theory and fact, so they're really making things worse, not better. Their die-hard opponents aren't any better, just pushing all the responsibility on the Creator and maintaining (without even a shred of evidence ... at least the scientific types get a few points for trying) that people and dinosaurs harmoniously cohabited the planet not all so long ago. I'm not convinced there's much hope for these folks at all, though I am surprised at how many seek - and obtain - public office in the United States. Scary thought.

Of course, since we don't know much, I don't think it's a good idea to make a sport out of knowing even less. That's why I find it disturbing when I read tha 18% of Americans believe that the sun revolves around the earth, that 63% of young Americans can't find Iraq on a map, 9 out of 10 can't find Afghanistan (even if you give them a map just of Asia), 75% can't locate Iran or Israel, and more than a third of Americans of any age can't identify the continent in which the Amazon River, the world's largest, is located. (By the way, the numbers haven't improved in the last five years, regardless of school choice.) No, we have to believe we can do better. We have to believe that real change is possible. We have to believe that it's worth the effort to try and make that change. We have to believe in ourselves. We have to believe that the society in which we live is worth saving. We ... oops.

Sorry, I got carried away. I forgot we traded in our society for a mere economy. My mistake. And in light of that, and since we all have to believe in something, I believe I'll have another beer.