About principles, universals, knowledge, and applications

People view knowledge and knowledge-seeking as the directing force, a guiding principle of life, a principle of action as if the world around was still, and evolution didn’t matter.

When new knowledge is found, its application picks up like a wildfire, entering every domain, illuminating every corner of our life. It changes every aspect, sweeps old values and customs away. It does it subtly and firmly through technology, entertainment, education, food, and medicine, thus changing the very fabric of our existence and breaking the basis of its own discovery.

But is it right? How can we be certain that some arbitrary philosophical or scientific idea that is no more than a distant derivative of impure observation over an impure sample can be reliable guidance? And even if it was pure, how do we know the aim is right, except in retrospect? What was good yesterday may not be good tomorrow. The principles that were held in high esteem in the past may lead to a disaster today.

Yes, yes, I know. There is still that dreadful question. Should we stop, do nothing and let evolution lead? Should we remain observers and be passive in the face of danger when external events take charge? Is it really a matter of picking a lesser evil, so to speak? Or is it a matter of balancing between many undesirable outcomes? Well, we’ve been choosing one extreme, it seems.

Edit: Perhaps, I’m untrue and unclear even to myself. I think I see two big problems with the way ideas are generated, developed, and applied.

1. No one has any meaningful time to understand and adequately adapt to the changes, including primary application and the trail of secondary, tertiary, and lesser (not in magnitude, but proximity) effects.
2. Ideas cannot compete naturally. Maybe it’s an oversimplification, but I have natural, evolutionary competition in mind. It’s the effects that should compete, not their causes (i.e., core ideas being applied). But new ideas rarely reach this stage. They compete unnaturally, funneled, and sifted through mass public education and formalities of institutes. I’m not saying that this poses unnecessary pressure. I’m saying that out-of-the-box thinking rarely gets through. Yet, some ideas with significant harmful side effects get through due to unfair and unaccounted for catalysts or simply due to economic and other human factors.