Is the human mind capable of understanding every aspect of reality completely? Although the steps to understanding may be long, is ultimate understanding possible? Is our mind complex and powerful enough (well some people definately are critically lacking, but the higher level humans)? For a simpler example, could we understand the thoughts from the mind of a hyper intelligent plant that has completely alien sensory imput and motivations, or is it out of reach to us. Is it all a matter of time, or is it fundamentally out of reach due to the innate capabilities of our minds?

This is a strange question.
You see, if there is something we are totally incapable of understanding, then clearly we are not aware of it now, or even the possibility of it, so how can we answer?

2pts for Dr Lou.

I have to agree with him. How would we ever know if we knew everything. I guess that would be the last thing we knew. so maybe knowledge of what exactly is out there would be our greatest acomplishment.

I would say that we probably aren't close. I'm betting that 400yrs or so in the future we'll look back and think, "boy we really didn't know anything back then" the same way we do now about 400yrs in before now.

there could be lots of things out there that we haven't even dreamed of being remotly possible. perhaps they are not beyound our understanding, we just haven't stumbled upon the ideas yet.

How would we ever know if we knew everything
We would know. That is what knowing everything means.

I guess that would be the last thing we knew.
But here comes a problem:
When we know everything, we also know that we know everything. Then, we also would know that we know that we know everything...
After a while, this becomes very tiresome and you basically know two things:
- you can not know everything in a limited amount of time, since there would always be the additional knowledge of knowing it, which you only can realise one step later.
- you know that spelling "know" numerous times after eachother makes you realise that "know" is a very strange word to spell.

blankc - It may depend on what you mean by 'reality'. The underlying reality may be quite simple. However if you mean the phenomenal universe as experienced by us then we obviously can't know every detail, so it depends what you mean by 'understand'. Knowledge can be shared, but understanding is an entirely personal and subjective experience.

When we know everything, we also know that we know everything. Then, we also would know that we know that we know everything...

you can not know everything in a limited amount of time, since there would always be the additional knowledge of knowing it, which you only can realise one step later.


I think it is enough to know the concept of the recursion. That's how eg. knowledge of numbers works: you do not need endless time to discover that there is an ifinite number of integers. Some believe that the knowlede of all or theory of all can be contained in a concept which the mind can grasp - in its finite existence.

Is the human mind capable of understanding every aspect of reality completely?

Is a Chimpanzee's brain capable of that? Are we REALLY that many steps ahead?

I think it is enough to know the concept of the recursion.
Nope, this is understanding, not knowing. You can understand that there is an infinite amount of integers but you can not know them, imo. Knowing everything is really quite impossible.

Whether it is possible to understand everything, i do not know. But i would vote for "unlikely".

Nope, this is understanding, not knowing. You can understand that there is an infinite amount of integers but you can not know them, imo. Knowing everything is really quite impossible.

Knowing is on the lower scale of knowledge then understanding. But you probably see "knowing" as if you were walking around with a camera: what gets on the tape is "known". In that way you are right naturally. You will never know all intergers. Is that distressing?

Is that distressing?
I wouldn't lose any sleep over it...