I have been speaking at length with a few of my closest friends over the last few months about this growing sense that the barriers between different disciplines (epistemology, psychology, economics, philosophy, and so forth) begin to fade into nonexistence as I continue to learn more.
There seems to be a tendency to refer to "a truth" as "The Truth." For example, someone completely convinced of a particular thing that they consider to be an objective fact, like the subjective nature of prices in an market economy.
"I am telling the truth," they may say, or think to themselves.
It seems to me that they are telling "a" truth. Not "the" Truth. Today I have started to conceptualize "The Truth" as a vast ocean that we all live inside, largely oblivious to its nature or contours.
"Epistemology" is a trench in the bottom of this sea, that most ignore but some dive more deeply into. "Psychology" is another trench, and so forth. Submersion into the darkest depths of one trench brings with it an appreciation for the fine details; the creatures and stones, the peculiar nature that makes this space distinct from another.
We, the creatures who inhabit this ocean floor, and who have never known any other existence, may venture to the depths of a handful of these trenches over the course of our life. What I am experiencing of late is sitting in the bottom of a trench, looking up, and realizing with perfect clarity for the very first time that all of the trenches are part of the same ocean.
What meaning does "ocean" have to a sea-dwelling creature like you or I? It is as meaningless as "air" to a land dweller who has never been deprived of it.
But the amount of synchronicity that my life has been filled with recently is truly inexplicable. It is like gaining another sense beyond taste, touch, smell, sight, and hearing, realizing it has been with me all along, and only my self-inflicted foolishness has prevented me from using it until now.
(This post was originally made on Facebook. The post date here has been changed to match the original.)
