Existential Anxiety: A Journey Through Knowledge
This article explores existential anxiety, the unease stemming from incomplete and erroneous knowledge. Using the Wikipedia 'first link' phenomenon leading to philosophy, it reflects on information overload and the pursuit of truth. Combining Conway's Game of Life, the realities of late-stage capitalism, Plato's Allegory of the Cave, and the scientific journey of Dorothy Hodgkin, the article proposes methods for overcoming this anxiety: using the 'Axe of Satisfaction' to cut down self-consuming work patterns, the 'Torch of Curiosity' to illuminate the fog of ignorance, the 'Oars of Routine' to navigate the river of responsibilities, ultimately reaching the peaks of knowledge, and continuously learning and growing through building and joining communities.
Read more