The Puzzle of Life
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One can endure simplicity by simply looking at this picture and concluding that Knowledge is like a puzzle. I'm going to take things one step further and tell you exactly HOW life is like a puzzle. In this picture the word "Knowledge" is spread across two puzzle pieces which is indicative of the inability to fit all information on one single puzzle piece. Now before we continue let me tell you that the puzzle pieces are representatives of information. Allow us to look more in depth at a single puzzle piece.
Puzzle pieces come in various shapes and sizes of which no two puzzle pieces are exactly the same. The same goes for different pieces of knowledge. One might come forth and say, "Oh but Tyler, history repeats itself!" of which I would instantly refute by referring to Mark Twain when he said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme." A puzzle piece may be similar in shape to other puzzle pieces but will never be exactly the same. For the sake of exemplification let us give life to a single puzzle piece:
Looking in my fridge I see some leftover buffalo wings from Buffalo Wild Wings. As I am very hungry I would like to eat those wings but should I eat them? Generally, when dealing with leftover perishables such as meat, I would allow the food to sit in my fridge for two days before I throw it out because I know it will go bad and could give me food poisoning. Buffalo wings would be classified as meat and thus should be kept for only two days before being thrown out. Since I first put those buffalo wings in my fridge a little over a day ago they are still good to eat. HOORAY!
In this case there were many puzzle pieces of information I used to come to my conclusion that the wings were still okay to eat, however, the one I want to focus on is the time it takes leftover perishables to go bad. I was taught that leftover chicken should only be kept in the fridge for two days before it is thrown away. This information can also be applied to buffalo wings as they share many of the same qualities as chicken both being meats and even possibly the same kind of chicken. Buffalo wings and chicken differ from each other in their qualities which is why their puzzle pieces would have different shapes and sizes. Now although these two meats have different shaped puzzle pieces the puzzle piece we have been focusing on has been the time is takes leftover perishables to go bad. This puzzle piece can be connected to the puzzle pieces of buffalo wings and chicken because they are similar in shape and size. There is just way too much information in the world to say that what you learn in one place cannot be used in another. Now where do our puzzle pieces originate?
Before I go on let me make it clear that, unlike tangible puzzle pieces, the intangible ones of which I speak of are not defined and thus have room for change. Moving on...
As we live each day watching, learning, experiencing, we create new puzzle pieces out of the information we obtain through our observations and analyses which add onto what we already know. Sometimes what we learn in a day may even shape old puzzle pieces. For example, what if buffalo wings were actually not perishable? This would lead to the puzzle piece we focused on before, the time I keep a leftover perishable refrigerated, to no longer fit with the puzzle piece of buffalo wings. So, although we've made it this far, we must not forget the goal of putting together puzzle pieces.
Like before, I need to make something clear before I go on. Information can be valid or invalid, true or untrue. Just because something we have learned isn't true doesn't stop it from being information. Haven't you ever heard someone say, "To my knowledge..."? Okay now i'll continue.
When puzzles are completed they form many different pictures. The same can be seen with information. Time is the table to host our unique puzzles because, as it elapses, our puzzle pieces grow and change forming the entire puzzle known as our knowledge. The way we think, the way we learn, the way we accept or deny, and much more all lead to the shaping of our individual puzzles of knowledge. Every single puzzle that exists represents another person and their knowledge. Each puzzle has a different picture, no matter how similar, and these pictures are what we are. We are made up of the puzzle pieces of our experiences and teachings but the picture of our puzzle is always changing.
Now while you ponder the information I have passed onto you today I shall go and heat up some wings! 再见！