Everything seems okay

The Greeks introduced the word "appear" or "seem" into the ancient lexicon.  Before they came along none of the languages of Mesopotamia or the Fertile Crescent had a similar word.  In the near East everything either was or was not.

For the Greeks "Phaino" to appear to be, to seem, and to shine, and "Phanes": appearance, shining, seeming, royal, famous.

Socrates introduced the concept that no intellectual inquiry was complete without asking what something was, what it was not, what it seems to be and what it seems not to be.  (syllogism).

Somehow this idea of appearing to be or seeming has been lost over the years.  Our embrace of the Mideastern Religions (Judeo-Christianity-Islam) has led to an embrace of the pre-Greek duality of Is and Is not.  Good and Evil.  Things are getting better or worse (positivism).

And right now every analyst of the dull normal persuasion is looking to see if things are getting better or worse.  Every report is better or worse than the last which indicates things are getting better or worse.  Everyone is looking for that point that signals "all clear."  We've hit bottom and we're improving.  Just look at the metrics.  As one thick analyst puts it "Is the line sloping from lower left to upper right?"

Completely absent all analysis is the question of how things seem, and how they seem not to be.

This question, which is imperative for clarity, always first muddies the water.   For the Greeks it is the Shining that Appears.  What really is, is hidden.  For us it appears to be the opposite: the seeming is mysterious.

So, as I said, everything seems okay right now.  It appears to be getting better.