( – promoted by buhdydharma )
Nope. I honestly do not.
I have noticed, in my meanderings through the political tubes, however, that I am surrounded by people not only who do get it, but who consider anyone who does not to be a moron. These must be very, very exceptionally intelligent people, because while they seem entirely self-assured in their vast knowledge of pretty much everything, I remain entirely self-assured that in all that there is to know, I know virtually nothing.
{More gibberish below the fold.)
Think of this for a moment. Let us say that the sum total of all possible knowledge could fill the volume of the room that you are now sitting in. If that were the case then the total of all human knowledge at this moment would probably fill the shoebox that you have under your bed. The difference between total possible knowledge and total human knowledge is at least that vast. Now, let’s say that in that shoebox is a particular dust speck.
That’s you. If the shoebox represents the sum total of all human knowledge then the sum total of your knowledge, in comparison, is a mere speck of dust. That is all. And, yet, for some reason, people walk around with seeming confidence in the utter infallibility of their every syllable.
And of all the many, many things that I do not get, this is just one more. I told my friend, the Devilish One, that I do not know what a tree is and I meant that. Do you know what a tree is? I do not. I know what trees look like. I know that they have bark and leaves and are made of “wood.” And, in truth, this means that I know nothing about trees and really have no idea whatsoever as to what they are.
And, in truth, I can say the same thing about almost anything. I do not know what trees are. I do not know what hamsters are. I do not know what corn flakes are. Since the sum total of my knowledge is a mere dust speck in that shoebox that you have under your bed, this means that what I do not know outweighs what I do know by a scale that is so vast that… well… I do not know how to calculate.
Now, some people might say, “Well, Karma, if you do not know anything, how can act in the world? And, if you do not know anything, how can you draw conclusions?” The fact is, of course, that I do act in the world and I do draw conclusions. The difference is that I do not presume that every conclusion I draw is representative of a God’s Eye View. I know that because I know so little that any particular conclusion that I draw is open to revision and might be entirely mistaken.
I can live with it, for some reason.
Note: I pondered on whether or not to post this here, but why the hell not? This is a “Question of the Day” on My Left Wing and, although it’s brief, and it’s meta, the question interests me.
Your thoughts?
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Do you get it?
Do you recognize the limits of your own knowledge?
Or are you surrounded by drooling idiots?
What is the one political conviction that you hold above all others?
Hmmmm…?
and I’m afraid they get even more complicated than you’re letting on, because the idea of knowledge filling a room suggests that all knowledge is quantifiable, which is already a debatable issue. Some knowledge is experiential and subjective, as if we’re both in the room but seeing it differently. It’s all a mess, really.
A lot of things intersect in this diary, but the biggest and most basic is epistemology: what is the nature of knowledge? (That’s not even getting to the hairier issue of “how do you draw conclusions from the knowledge that you have?”, which then involves everything from psychology and logic to sociology and, let’s face it, faith.)
There are lots of different theories out there, but unless you’re a professional philosopher, they can be really headache inducing – especially when you have to continue interacting with the world around you, coherent theory or not. My experience of eating breakfast (what is eating? what is breakfast?) involves an immediate biological necessity that trumps my thinking about it. It’s hard to get arrogant about that (although it’s not hard to get frustrated with people who aren’t even trying, which is another issue entirely.)
Anyway. Random thoughts in response.
there are things i know ‘i am hungry’
there are things i can know ‘what is the temperature today’
there are things i’ll never know & don’t even have the questions to ask….
so i do my best to learn something from everyone i meet, even if it is only that the cashier on aisle 4 at rexall on friday nights is…..not nice.
that is all. everyone except karma may now proceed to the next comment. nothing to see here. move along!
psst- dude! did you mean to wrong pico?
Man Shoots His Own Penis to Impress Friends, Carnal Nation
…to learn that every time we learn something, the new questions which arise outnumber the number of questions we have answered.
Thus does ignorance grow faster than knowledge. We have to live with that.
many interpretations and explanations and sometimes lost in translation. A lot of times ‘it’ won’t even be said through all the talking that’s done. You have to figure out what ‘it’ is yourself. and sometimes ‘it’ ain’t nothing.
is just a coping mechanism for some people.
It’s ingrained–I think maybe in the college years..?
And if we don’t know everything already, surely someone does, and it’s easy enough to look up the answers.
Therefore, there are no new questions. We have reached the pinnacle of man.
Welcome to the abyss…
…picked something other than a tree
a tree is a living organism. it imbibes water and takes in carbon dioxide, then exhales oxygen and water vapor. combining all this with sunlight, it produces the chemicals needed for sustaining it’s life.
see also: a home for bugs, birds, and squirrels
nobody knows what gravity really is. I wish you had picked that instead
… are just plain folks. Not everybody gets everything.
What infuriates me are those who ACT like they get it but obviously DO NOT get it because, after all, they are taking a position opposing mine.
Come to think of it, that probably infuriates them too. Huh.
I think.
…wishes to welcome you to The No Way Zen Center.
Author
I’m just perpetually amazed at how so many people speak with such assurance on things that they cannot be quite so assured about.
It’s a puzzlement to me.
Just toss it on that tremendous pile of things that I do not understand.
What struck me reading this essay (which was charming) is that knowing and not knowing are a kind of probability map. I really think — am arrogantly sure, in fact — that owning one’s own map of knowing and not knowing, and being as honest about it as one can be, is much of the stuff of intellectual integrity, and mastery, and the ability to learn.
And to answer: I’m a very ignorant creature, but I am surrounded, quite often, by drooling idiots. And radical empathy is the conviction I hold above all others (it requires I acknowledge how little I know, and act anyway as well as I can, sometimes with great certainty. And go splat.).
woof woof sorry…v.nice essay…
Author
Front paged?
Although I do not understand this, either, I am quite sincerely honored.
Thank you and peace to you, please.