Fog, Faith, and the Modern Unknown
The hull lurched as another wave crashed over the deck. The piercing wind whipped Samuel's soaked linen shirt like an executioner's lash as the sky and sea melded into a purgatory without a horizon. Despite his relentless gaze, there was no glint of land through the fog's fingers — only haunting foghorn blasts, warning of storms that could instantly shatter his dreams.
Seven weeks earlier, Samuel and his shipmates had fled persecution and poverty in Europe, trading one set of unknowns for another. Rumors swirled about the trials awaiting them in the wild New World—a land of uncharted wilderness, savage beasts, and heathen tribes. Samuel clung to prayer and a fraying rope, separated from his wife by the groaning boards underfoot. The dreams of a safe haven in the new colony seemed increasingly distant as their pilgrimage threatened to feed more corpses to the Atlantic's watery grave.
Centuries later, I embark on my own intercontinental journey. While Samuel braved 66 days suspended between life and the unforgiving sea, I will cross that same divide in mere hours, cocooned in comfort and entertained by modern amenities. His trip stretched the boundaries of human knowledge and endurance, while mine is charted with GPS and schedules, culminating in the warm embrace of family awaiting my arrival with open arms and joyful smiles.
Today, certainty has become an expectation. The modern urge to illuminate the unknown and eliminate uncertainty permeates every facet of life. Expectant parents probe the mysteries of their unborn child's DNA rather than embrace conception's sacred surprises. The medical industry deploys a sprawling array of screens and tests, striving to expose even the most elusive ailments to spare patients the anguish of lingering in the unknown. Meanwhile, logistics systems track deliveries with needless precision, ensuring that no soul endures even a few seconds without the thrill of fresh gadgetry in their hands.
This way of living doesn't resemble the passion that once drove explorers to distant shores like San Salvador. Imagine if Columbus had succumbed to doubt and turned back before his faith gave way to the sight of unmapped lands on the horizon. In contrast, today's obsession with certainty has bred a new kind of superstition that masquerades as science but ultimately prefers the comfort of hollow assurances over the courage of engaging in candid conversations with fate.
Despite the pervasiveness of modern certainty-seeking, the myth of "unprecedented uncertainty" persists. This belief is rooted not in reason but in psychological folly. The sting of fresh wounds blinds us to the broader perspective, while the perceived erosion of stability fuels a misguided nostalgia for "calmer" days gone by. Moreover, the dizzying pace of technological disruption sparks fears about our ability to adapt and thrive in a changing world.
Adding to this is the 24-hour media cycle that spotlights every difficulty, amplifying collective angst and transforming it into a self-evident omen of impending doom. With its rose-tinted lens, nostalgia paints the past in simpler hues, while confirmation bias latches onto every sensationalized headline, evincing the perceived collapse of ordered humanity.
Yet, we must ask ourselves: has any age truly escaped the seasons when the social fabric frayed and madness seemed ascendant? Do not all eras, at some point, feel the ground shifting too rapidly beneath their feet?
A careful survey of history reveals a striking continuity in periods of upheaval and the reactive laments of those clinging to the past, proclaiming the arrival of "end times" amidst the unrest. This timeless human inclination to perceive one's era as uniquely tumultuous will persist so long as our collective cognition remains prone to such psychological pitfalls.
All too often, we mistake the static in our heads for some profound sickness in modernity, unable to conceive of our inner weather as anything but a reflection of the outer world's climate. Rather than recognizing the permanence of uncertainty as a part of the human condition, every generation laments the gathering clouds of some impending apocalypse, divorced from the reality that change and upheaval are the only constants.
But still, uncertainty reigns supreme in the ultimate unknowable—the timing and manner of our final farewell. Mortality may be inevitable, but the coordinates of our crossing remain a closely guarded secret until the very end. In the face of this uncertainty, let us strive to be gracious sojourners.
The revered investor Charlie Munger once quipped, "All I want to know is where I am going to die, so I never go there."Despite his wit and wisdom, he never found out. On November 28th, Charlie passed away, mere months shy of his centennial—a life full of years and accomplishments, yet still shrouded in the same uncertainty that accompanies us all to the very end.
Our task, then, is not to eliminate the unknowns but to float through uncertainty's currents, unbowed by dread and buoyed by possibility's promise. If we honor the spirit that brought us this far, our sails will catch fresh winds, taking humanity where uncharted mystery still beckons.
