Article I, The Foundation, Ideology and Mission
Article I, Section 1. The Name
Founded October 15, 2005, in Springfield Missouri at 500 W. Division Street, the organization shall be known as The Preservation Society.
Article I, Section 2. Smoke in Fog: A deliberately unclear declaration of purpose
When discussing Certainty, our leadership has determined that the less time spent defining our adversary, the better. After all, what could be more counterproductive than clearly identifying your enemy, when the act of clarification itself would only serve to strengthen certainty - which we are against. For this reason, we humbly request an exemption from the great Sun Tzu, philosophy of, “ know your enemy.” Though it has proven as sage advice for so many years, we are set against an enemy that can only be overcome by knowing less of it.
Rather than identifying what certainty is, we have opted to hint at what it is not, and even that tests our resolve. Our attack on certainty is not anti-knowledge, it is not anti-science, and it is not anti-belief. It is an unrelenting interrogation of the actions and ideas we hold tight which result from our knowledge, scientific understanding, and beliefs. In short, our aim is to preserve two of our world’s most valuable resources; mystery and doubt. The preservation of these resources is not an aimless acceptance of the unknowable nature of the world around us. Rather it is the full-hearted pursuit of the infinitely knowable.
Some have asked, What do we preserve? and our answer is a resounding, “We don't know.” Not having the answer to the question is not the intent of the response. “We don’t know,” is, in fact, what we are preserving.
Through the preservation of mystery and doubt, we gain freedom from the pursuit of self-satisfaction and pleasure. Being satisfied with apprehension and unknowing instead leads us to a place where we are comfortable with ambiguity, complexity, joy, and sadness -- true freedom.
It must be said that it is not our goal to destroy certainty. Our goal is merely to keep it close enough that we can bash it with a candelabra at any given moment and that we remain eager and willing to do so at a moment’s notice. After all, a good mystery only exists because there is every knowable reason to not believe. Choosing uncertainty is to choose the path overgrown with briars and littered with stones. Lucky for us, the best views of life are to found down these untrodden paths.
Article I, Section 3. Mission
The Preservation Society exists to become the global leader in informing the public of the actions of the society. Through our unrepentant self-promotion, we will lead the masses in the celebration of all things unknowable. Certainty is our enemy.
Article I, Section 4. Founding Ideology
The Preservation Society aims to fill our mission by adhering to the following ideologies. Please note, even these fingers of our ideology are meant to distract your focus from the moon, to which they point.
4.1 Defence of The Tightrope
Our deepest belief is that the spectrum that runs between certainty and uncertainty can be likened to a tightrope -- a precarious journey on its best days. Still, the fact remains that a tightrope only works because both ends are held equally tight. In order to have balance within ourselves or in community, we must maintain some level of both. In a community, some must be certain, and others must choose to pull in the opposite direction. As we consider the tightrope we must acknowledge that the goal of pulling in either direction is not to lose the tightrope from its opposing anchor. Rather it is to provide stability for each of us to venture forth over an infinite precipice.
Our hope is that each member of The Preservation Society would find and foster the uncertainties in their life to provide stability for themselves and others. That said, this world is full of individuals ratcheting up the pressure on the certain side of the wire and The Preservation Society aims to bring balance by providing equal and opposite force to opposing anchors.
Unquestionably, the readiest areas where individuals assert certainty are religion and politics. These are the lowest hanging fruit picked and eaten by the certain. The work of The Preservation Society is to provide an equal and opposite force to their efforts. If we happen to shake the tightrope itself in the process by attaching a tote of mating elephants to it whilst our members wobble across, that would be pure coincidence. After all, a fall from such a height leads to the greatest mystery of all.
4.2 The Categorization of Certainty
In 2002, the United States, Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld began a rhetorical meandering that revolved around the concept of known knowns, unknown knowns, known unknowns, and unknown unknowns. Rumsfeld’s use of the terms listed above served as a logical shell game meant to confuse the public instead of providing clear answers regarding the U.S. invasion of Iraq due to the supposed presence of weapons of mass destruction. His logic was met with startling success. A sort of Vaseline with which might help one cram a hotdog through a gun barrel.
While we disagree with the use of these tactics in this situation, The Preservation Society Board of Dictatorial Governance took the device and has since applied it to our ideology, with some modification of course. We don't consider this stealing from Rumsfeld, just standing on his shoulders and helping ourselves to what happened to be in his pockets. Below is our interpretation of Mr. Rumsfeld's system of logic.
Certain Certainties are ideas or assertions which we know and we know that we know them. These are to be celebrated under a watchful and suspicious eye and relinquished when necessary. Certain Certainties can be likened to an egg cracked and in a pan. The egg is white and yellow and tasty.
Uncertain certainties, these ideas or assertions are that which we do not know but we understand that they can be known. Uncertain certainties are solvable mysteries that can be likened to an unopened egg. We understand that in a moment the egg can be cracked open and a tiny bird, yolk or another mystery might be inside but the egg remains intact and in hand.
Certain Uncertainties are ideas or assertions which we do not know, and we are satisfied with their unknowableness. The metaphorical egg is supposedly under the hen but confirming this fact would rob us of the joy of unknowing. That and the fact that we run the risk of a stern pecking from Mama Hen. The possibility that there is an egg is fantastic and we are content with its possibility or lack thereof.
Uncertain Uncertainties are ideas or assertions which we do not know and we don't know that we don't know them. In this metaphorical scenario, we ask, what is an egg?
By categorizing ideas, assertions, and beliefs into these terms, we are able to celebrate, disarm or closely monitor our relationship to certainty, uncertainty, reality, unreality, and eggs.
4.3 Combating The Entitlement of Rightness and Heritage
Our opposition to certainty is a stand against using any entitlement pertaining to one’s: country, land, citizenship, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, wealth, positions, diet, disability, health or sanity, in order to ostracize, antagonize, or demonize another individual, based on the factors shaping their worldview. If we use our personal certainty in any of the aforementioned areas to infringe on the certainty of another individual, we deny them their right to their own story and destroy our chance to be graceful, merciful, and empathetic. By defining ourselves by these criteria, we build our house on a beach that can be washed away should one of these criteria change within our own person. In short, we believe that everyone is fighting a battle that we know nothing about. Therefore, we are to celebrate one another regardless of any personal assertion or belief pertaining to the circumstances listed above.
4.4 The Othering of Others
A core tenant of the Ubuntu philosophy revolves around the concept; I am because you are. By seeing the interconnectedness of each individual, we begin to understand that the value of our personhood only comes through acknowledging the same value in others. Through embracing a reckless pursuit of each other, we are able to express a selfless celebration of each other's victories and compassion for each other’s suffering.
