"Black Swan" Events

During a visit to Australia recently, I bought a book (see BOOKS below) recommended by a good friend of mine, Andrew Fields. It is all about the Black Swan events, unanticipated, unimaginable and surprising discoveries that reset our paradigms of thinking. In short, up to the discovery of Australia, the concept of a swan did not include anything but white swans. Swans were white, a fact there for all to see, and I cannot imagine that anybody even speculated about swans being black. The question is: how much of what we hold as absolute truth is in fact absolute! I've been struggeling through another book for about a year now, simply called "Truth: A Guide", by Simon Blackburn. He takes an interesting stance on the epistemology of truth - almost a stance of "you know it when you see it". Well, I am still to get to the end of that book. Meanwhile, back at the ranch so to say, a black swan arrived this week. And I am wondering how much of what I see around me will remain as absolutes. Welcome Jacob Zuma.
Jan