Why the more we know, the more we know that we don't know anything?

why the more we know, the more we feel how tiny are we, and we don't know anything? why do we feel, like, need to know more, but the more you know, the more you feel you need to know more, and so on, and the more you feel you don't know anything

 

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Is there any point to this thread?

 

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.

it's a question..

 

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Because if you knew everything you would know nothing.

 

this is a pointless thread.

Shadow, figure it out for yourself.

There is no reason why I should give you the answer. Especially because there is no right answer. Just answers that we all think are right.

 

Because initially we don't know as much as we think we know. Knowledge opens up new avenues for new knowledge. Get on board the knowledge train.

 

The best questions have no answers.

 

This is because if you learn about one thing today tomorrow it could change. As an example if you learned that the moon was made of basalt today and then tomorrow someone discovered that quartz was also found on it, that means you have to add onto what you know about today. As more data is learned we have to keep rethinking about what we already know because it can change instantly!

 

If we knew everything the universe would be totally boring.
It's because we know we don't know everything that the universe is interesting. We might decide, once we decided there was nothing more we needed to know, to simply cease exisiting.

So there is a point to learning more about it (as Spinoza pointed out), and there is no point in learning everything. What would be the point?

 

Like Fraggle said abbreviated "the more we learn the more we realize there is to learn."

 

As Homer Simpson said "Every time I learn new stuff it pushes some of the old stuff out of my brain", but you still remember that you used to know the old stuff: you just can't remember what it was.

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are you talking about the human race in general,or are you asking from a personal perspective?


from a personal point of view..
if you were to somehow be able to know all that is knowable,(this is assumeing a long enough life to be able to learn all there is to know).
there is the issue of its not what you know but how you use it,
there is also the issue of ppl not believing you know all things..
(even if you did know everything,would you be able to convince others that you do?)(be carefull how you answer this one..see any thread at sciforums...)

as far as the human race..
there is a theory that says we already know everything that is knowable,
(i think it is from the bible..not sure..)
IMO.. the information we lack is in someones head that doesn't realize that the information he has is relevant to anything..
or..
maybe he knows its relevant,but just can't convince anyone it is..

 

Agree and I added:
The more we know the more we realize the complexity of things.

 

Not that I disagree with what other people said, but let me take another tack.

It's because we confuse information with knowledge. Technically it can be. But I think much information is utterly unimportant to us. Or it has a low priority. Even stuff that is very important to others.

So we learn a little psychology or chemistry. Suddenly we know new words that we know we don't know. We get a sudden sense there is more information about these things and more things which form groups in these subject areas.

But really, do we need to know most of this stuff? I think part of the panic has to do with not knowing what to prioritize. What will make my life better if I know it. Most of it will barely affect my/your quality of life.

Some stuff we learn simply because it is fascinating.
Some we learn so we do not suffer.
Some we learn to improve the quality of our lives - some of this is wisdom, other portions can be things that give us raises or better jobs or degrees.
Some we learn because someone says we should.

I think it is often unclear which of these things any given piece of information is - and of course they can be mixtures.

 

you are saying it is how we value the information that counts..right?

descriptions subjective to vocabulary? does it exist if we can't describe it?(isn't that another thread?)

if i convince you there is/isn't a god, who benefits more, you or me?

 

Yes. Also that sometimes this sense of not knowing anything is false. yes, indeed, we may know only the tiniest fraction of information, even in some of our areas of expertise. But perhaps we really do not need to know most of the remainder. Also some information can have a vast impact on one's life - that one is a diabetic or 'I let other people walk all over me' or 'when I am confused people have actually seemed happy to direct me or give me information on many occasions'. A few off the top of my head examples of information that if faced can radically improve quality of life. Whereas someone studying organic chem will suddenly find out some kinds of interactions involving enzymes, know they have just come in contact with a tiny portion of these interactions and feel helpless and lost and a likely failure. Then a while later they find out that they have already satisfied their science requirements, are not that interested in chemistry and go on with their major in English Lit while dropping organic chem. Or the would be doctor finds out that their brother, already a successful doctor, hated organic chem and everyone feels lost at the beginning and really with lots of boring memorization you can plow through it. The latter realizations are very important to this hypothetical person. The actions of lipase are no longer threating at all or much less threatening depending on which of the above scenarios is relevent.

Didn't really follow this.

Well, that depends on a number of things. Are you right? What this God is like and all that goes with it - neither would benefit much in the long run if we are both heading to hell, for example. But yes, that kind of information if accepted connects with huge changes, at least potentially. If you convince me San Francisco is the capital of CA the consequences are likely to be smaller.

 

to use your analogy..

if i did convince you that San Francisco is the capital of CA (ignore that it is not,assume that knowledge is inaccessible),
would it benefit you more knowing this or me for convincing you?
iow
would knowing that knowledge increase your own sense of worth,
or would the convincing increase my own sense of worth..

(if you don't understand,what i am asking..don't stress..its a thought line, i am trying to bring to focus)

 

My answer is that it depends. You could have been about to commit suicide, feeling utterly useless and just this small exchange reminds you that you like talking to people and you like relaying information. While I, on the other side, thank you, go back to some online trivia test -where I get the answer wrong, but don't notice this later- and the interactions has almost no impact on me. Or, you toss off the information without really thinking about it and I realize I have been looking in, cough, cough, Sacramento, for my long lost love who was rumour to live in the Capital of CA. And overjoyed at perhaps having a chance still, go to find this person and live happily ever after.

If you are trying to get at some statistical mean, I still think it is unanswerable. The more important the information to the one who learns it, the greater chance they benefit, but.................
the first person may get a lot of secondary gain out of this importance. However......
I am not sure that kind of secondary gain is not without its problems.

I think we need to find the role and position that feels good to some degree separate from instances where the other person gets happy, etc.

There's about 10 tangents, for ya.