Validation

Let us not talk about philosophy, but let us talk about the things we can agree on. And let us not take the counsel of fools who would tell us nonsense is “so and so” because they honestly believe this to be true against the opinion of everyone else (rightly or not).

Neither let us take blindly the counsel of rent-seekers who also tell us things are surely “so and so,” and if only we choose to buy into the prestige of their institution and become true believers, everyone will quickly become convinced that we are now experts with credentials (no matter how obscure the area happens to be.)

Oh, there are perks: From such an incontrovertible vantage point we surely can claim superiority if the need arises: We hear that a “get out of jail free” card is ours by waving the right-looking papers of sanity in the face of anyone in authority—conveniently disregarding the idiosyncrasies of the Universe and its permutations.

Despite the fees that inevitably follow, despite the hard work and examinations, and despite public performance hoops illuminated by fire that we earnestly feel we must negotiate in order to win the promised “forever validation”—even while each test was invented by someone suspiciously similar to us—we know that it's not all arbitrary because opinion assures us that such highly regarded people are the real gatekeepers of “castles high up in the sky.”

It is rumoured that they magically brought into being such things—so that, once the marketing campaign videos are finally over and we have paid up, hidden knowledge can finally be ours! So at least, according to someone else, we are set for life, and can have incontrovertible career security, all else being equal.

Fast-forward into mathematics where, even if only one other person in the world eventually made the cut, we really know deep-down that is a fundamental and incontrovertible truth that \(E=mc^2\), and it may be true or not, but nevertheless there are few who would wish to debate this.

So going forth armed with profound gnostic truth we are closer to the gods, and surely, and very imminently, we will spontaneously generate the miracle of “becoming” that we dreamed about all along.

But failing that, in the end, we might at least earn a few references on Wikipedia pages.