Control Panel

You know you can tell a great deal by watching a panel like this but you cannot tell everything.  You can tell this in not a new car by the mileage displayed.  You can tell  the engine has been running for a while because the temperature gage says it warm and not cold. You can tell  the wheels were not moving yet the engine is running by the speedometer and rpm meter.  You can see I did not have my seat belt fastened and that the gear shift is in the parked position.  You can even see how much gas my tank says it has....but you cannot tell the state of the driver or car's condition or the see anything concerning their past or future states except the distance it has already travelled.  One can only view the current state of affairs by the interpretation of the available displays.  How like our lives this display really is.  How many people, friends, and strangers do we meet and judge by such outward tools and means of measurement on a daily basis?  As I sat in this car in the cold dark night waiting for my daughter to come out of the movies I had to stop and think about life and how I determine the state of it.  It is not an easy question to answer to consider when one feels in flux.  Can I really trust my gauges and are they measuring anything substantial really?