Natural lies

I often comment that I read random stuff that interests me.  I do. And they do interest me. A lot.

There is one thing that I do with this randomness that makes it all worthwhile.  I connect that randomness to other randomness and make meaning out of it all.  I mean, isn't that what life itself is about?  We make meaning out of randomness. (A reminder that I do not believe in the meaning of life that the religious subscribe to.)

The randomness is about things mundane and profound.  We forget that there is a lot to be learnt from the mundane too.  After all, even the everyday absurd life is mostly about the mundane, right?

Consider this:

Strawberries and raspberries aren't really berries in the botanical sense.

It is mundane. But, does it not upend our understanding of berries?

Sometimes, in life too, it is a simple revelation, a truth, that compels us to rethink our estimate of people, history, whatever.  The mundane is never really about the mundane itself.

More about this berry berry interesting aspect of berries:

[Berries] are derived from a single flower with more than one ovary, making them an aggregate fruit. True berries are simple fruits stemming from one flower with one ovary and typically have several seeds. Tomatoes fall into this group, as do pomegranates, kiwis and—believe it or not—bananas. (Their seeds are so tiny it's easy to forget they're there.)

At this point, if you are like me who is botanically challenged, we are left dazed that "bananas are berries and raspberries aren't."

If you wonder how I end up reading such random stuff ...

I ran into a parenthetical sentence in this essay on natural foods: (Yes, technically bananas are berries.)

I stopped right there, stunned that bananas are berries.  How could one not be stunned with that revelation!  Scientifically speaking, even tomatoes and cucumbers are berries.  Up is down, and right is left ;)

Making meaning out of randomness is hard work.  It is far easier to believe in a narrative and never question even a random event or idea that is inconsistent with our favored narrative. But, such an approach has never appealed to me.  I hope it never will.