Thought for the Day: Is the Cup Half-Full or Half-Empty?

That is the question we’re so often asked, to determine our ultimate predisposition toward optimism or pessimism, as if there were no third option, or suitable middle ground. I’d probably say that the question is irrelevant, since we’re lucky to have a cup with which to play, and a table upon which to lay it. That is the difference between the manifested and unmanifested aspects of reality…

You ask me to judge the cup by its content, with no mention of the quality of the content, but only the quantity. Of what would I be drinking here? Is it good for me or bad? But still I’m more interested in the cup itself, regardless. That cup might represent the known world, and its content the seven seas, the sea of possibilities. The table upon which it lies would then define the universe, the realm of mathematical probabilities…

The space in which the table exists is another unknown dimension, accessible only by intuition and the calculi of logic and proportion. We know it must be good, though, because it’s bigger than us, and we are part of it, and thus we aspire to it, as befits anything in its position as superior to us. Moral of the story: there is more to life than silly syllogisms—and don’t ask stupid questions…

Advertisement