Notes on Skepticism

The questions put by Timon of Athens to his master Pyrrho the skeptic:

The answers in return:

The nature of things is unknowable.
One should proceed cautiously and without dogmatism, aware of the provisional nature of all his thoughts.
He will be at peace in himself, undisturbed by changing circumstance, and as a consequence free to be gentle toward others

Comments on the questions and answers:

Every moment is absolutely unique. There are no similarities from one moment to the next. That we can abstract apparent similarities and put them to use is undeniable, but should not delude us into mistaking our abstractions for the Universe. ("You can't eat the menu" -- Robert Anton Wilson) Induction and pattern-recognition are useful tools but depend on throwing out nearly all of our information in order to be left only with that which we want -- and when we can't even find that, we change what we want. This latter process is called "learning".
The subject should in fact become a pragmatist, aware that all meaning is dependent upon the context created by the circumstances in which it arises. (The "circumstances" being a collection of abstractions.)
He will become either a mystic or a nihilist. The difference between a Roshi and a Metallica fan is that the latter is aware that he's not going to get any answers, but the former has, in addition to this knowledge, the realization that the same process which prevents him from getting answers prevents him from asking meaningful questions.