Convival

\kuhn-VIV-ee-uhl\, adjective:
Relating to, occupied with, or fond of feasting, drinking, and good company; merry; festive.

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It occurs to me that, while we may be able to analyze and make conclusions about reality, our perceptions are dubious at best when related to a universal standard—the boxes we make to house understanding function for our purpose alone, and do not actually coincide with the impersonal universe. Thus our understanding of the universe, while perhaps accurately describing it in terms agreeable to us, is inevitably confined to our perception of it. We shall always be, perhaps, an imperfect mirror.

This is only slightly disparaging, however—an elucidation of a long-known understanding that the universe does not need our taglines for its showcases. Just because there is no perfect way of understanding the universe (as a true reflection would be nothing but a similarly impersonal mirror, I think) does not mean we cannot pick it apart in our own way. We need avoid allusions to theoretical absolutes like omniscience concerning the ‘proper’ way to understand the universe. If it’s not made to be understood then we alone set the standard for how it is to be correctly and incorrectly perceived—and have rightly, on many occasions, prescribed the former as whichever has the closest relation to observable phenomena.

We must be wary, however, of convincing ourselves that we are objective receptors—we are merely capable of observing the (seemingly) objective reality.