The wise man knows his limits

Moojuice

A wise man can recognise that there are others wiser then him. The stupid man thinks he knows it all. I think it is knowing that you dont always know. Knowing the limits of your wisdom but always seeking to learn and know more.

Exit

I'll agree with the last bit. The wisest people are the ones who always look to further their knowledge.

Uthur

Hell, I'm always amazed at just how little I know. Guess I must be pretty darn
wise after all

Kai

I came up with a theory me and my friends used to have a laugh about :

"no one knows ANYTHING"

Basically the idea was that noone fully understands or comprehends anything completely. Think about (but not too hard) try to name something that you know everything about. Can you name one thing ? can you tell its entire history ?

Its a tricky one.

I firmly believe i know nothing

Fysh

Why do you have to know something completely in order to know anything? I mean, I know a fair bit about physics. I readily accept that I don't know everything about it, but I can still use what I do know to eg predict the electric or magnetic field around a power line. Or some similarly useful activity.

As such, your theory is DENIED!

funky penguin

Originally posted by Frugu

I firmly believe i know nothing

You must know sometthing......like how to type perhaps?

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
You must know sometthing......like how to type perhaps?

True but i dont know how the keyboard works completely, i dont know the binary or Hex signal it sends to the computer, i dont know how the computer interprets these and forms characters on screen. I dont even know what font im typing in or if this sentence is grammatically correct ( im pretty sure it isnt)

The theory is that you dont fully understand anything. no matter what you choose theres always a small part that you dont know / cant remember / cannot be found out.

So basically we are like ants, we know a certain amount about each item or task in order to fulfil a certain duty but our knowledge ends there.

Is there a point to this theory ?
I dont know and neither do you

funky penguin

The point i was making is that you have to know something , otherwise I wouldnt be having this postversation with you. Hey, I just coined a word.

Everyone knows something no matter how insignificant, therefore nobody knows nothing.

Fysh

Originally posted by Frugu
True but i dont know how the keyboard works completely, i dont know the binary or Hex signal it sends to the computer, i dont know how the computer interprets these and forms characters on screen. I dont even know what font im typing in or if this sentence is grammatically correct ( im pretty sure it isnt)

The theory is that you dont fully understand anything. no matter what you choose theres always a small part that you dont know / cant remember / cannot be found out.

So basically we are like ants, we know a certain amount about each item or task in order to fulfil a certain duty but our knowledge ends there.

Is there a point to this theory ?
I dont know and neither do you

Just extrapolating this idea....imagine someone who somehow did know *everything* there is to know. They have to store this knowledge somewhere - whether an organic brain, a harddisk, paper, etc, it has to be somewhere. But then you have some storage about which you can have more information. And you need to store this metainformation somewhere else. And the cycle recurs again.

My point? That it's impossible to know everything, I suppose. Which can also be deduced by coupling entropy and the idea of a finite universe, since this would put an upper limit on the amount of knowledge that can ever be obtained by the sum total of all sapient species in our universe.

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
The point i was making is that you have to know something , otherwise I wouldnt be having this postversation with you. Hey, I just coined a word.

Everyone knows something no matter how insignificant, therefore nobody knows nothing.

true but "Everbody knows nothing theory" sounds better in a semi drunken argument , rather than "Everbody knows a little bit about something but not everything about anything theory"

Its a non ending statement anyway as all things are linked together.

villain_97

Interesting discussion but I don't go along with the ''no one knows anything''.Can see how it would sound good in a semi-drunken state.It is possible to know everything about something.it has to be if you are taking the statement at face value.

simu

Originally posted by Frugu
true but "Everbody knows nothing theory" sounds better in a semi drunken argument , rather than "Everbody knows a little bit about something but not everything about anything theory"

Perhaps but this a philosophy forum, not a semi-drunken argument forum.;)

funky penguin

Originally posted by Frugu
rather than "Everbody knows a little bit about something but not everything about anything theory"

I didnt say that, i said nobody knows nothing.....which I think sounds better no matter what state of mind you may be in, be it sobriety or "langered as a badger".

In the latter case, it would be funny to watch the drunken individual writhe in agony as he/she attempts to unsderstand wtf was just said...

Kai

Ok so smarty pants heres a test.

My theory "No one understands or knows everthing about anything"

Anything = single item like a book or an entire religion or philosophy [sp]

Understands / knows everything = Understands and can answer any question about the "anything"

So go ahead and prove me wrong. The test is i can ask questions about the anything and you should be able to answer them.

ps i fight dirty

Fysh

Two quick things:

1)Who's to say that you are able to sufficiently comprehend the answers from this person who totally understands the subject being discussed? Eg quantum physics - you might talk the world's best expert and ask a question whose answer doesn't satisfy you, not because it's not a valid answer, but because you don't understand the subject well enough to comprehend the full ramifications of the answer.

2)How exactly are you justifying your jump from "nobody knows anything" to "No one understands or knows everthing about anything"? I mean, I don't know everything about how a car engine works, but I can change a spark plug, fill the petrol tank, change a flat tire and a few other things. I don't know everything about it, but I can keep it running on a day-to-day basis (outside of some major fault).

I have to admit, this sounds like you're bitterly arguing your corner for the sake of it - not that this is a first for boards, and it's certainly not something I'll deny ever having done , but is there really any point in continuing this discussion? I mean, yeah, ok, the accumulated store of human knowledge or information is far greater than what any one person can learn in a lifetime. I don't think anyone's denying that. All this proves is that our knowledge-gathering endeavours have been fruitful. I'd be more worried if it *were* possible for one person to know everything, because this would suggest that, as a sum total, humanity knows f*ck-all.

funky penguin

Originally posted by Frugu
Ok so smarty pants heres a test.

My theory "No one understands or knows everthing about anything"

Anything = single item like a book or an entire religion or philosophy [sp]

Understands / knows everything = Understands and can answer any question about the "anything"

So go ahead and prove me wrong. The test is i can ask questions about the anything and you should be able to answer them.

ps i fight dirty

O-kay.... I never once said I know everything, or that anyone else knows everything, but it sounds like a pointless challenge. And if there is anything I like, its cake.

My chosen subject is........me.

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
O-kay.... I never once said I know everything, or that anyone else knows everything, but it sounds like a pointless challenge. And if there is anything I like, its cake.

My chosen subject is........me.

i know im only messing its not like im defending my religion or anything, like i said i made it up for a laugh.

Ok so how many hairs have you got on your head.

keu

Fysh

Originally posted by Frugu
Ok so how many hairs have you got on your head.

See 1) in my previous post - if he gives you an arbitrary answer (eg 2 milion, five hundred and thirteen thousand, four hundred and twenty seven), what are you going to do? Ask him to prove it by, I don't know, numbering them all and taking photos? Shave every hair off and send it to you so you can count them yourself?

I maintain my position that this is stupid and that your argument doesn't hold up (see number 2 in my previous post, I can't be arsed repeating it).

triv88

i know that i know nothing about everything so that is 1 thing that i know,know wat i'm saying

tba

I cerainly know enough about somethings to fool you into thinking I know more.

And everyone knows that funky penguin is bald, all over.

funky penguin

And everyone knows that funky penguin is bald, all over.

Goddammit tba! You said what I was gonna say!

Buuuutt, its impossible to answer, cos you loose an average of 100 hairs a day, plus new ones are also being grown..... I doubt I could give an acurate answer.

Buuuutt.....103,794 hairs, at the moment.

Kai

Originally posted by Fysh
See 1) in my previous post - if he gives you an arbitrary answer (eg 2 milion, five hundred and thirteen thousand, four hundred and twenty seven), what are you going to do? Ask him to prove it by, I don't know, numbering them all and taking photos? Shave every hair off and send it to you so you can count them yourself?

I maintain my position that this is stupid and that your argument doesn't hold up (see number 2 in my previous post, I can't be arsed repeating it).

Lol i agree with you, i already said i made it up for a laugh and that it doesnt hold up [although i havent seen someone prove that yet].

And what if he had replied 2.5 million - would YOU have believed him ? It should be clear from the question that its amost impossible to know or prove.

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
Goddammit tba! You said what I was gonna say!

Buuuutt, its impossible to answer, cos you loose an average of 100 hairs a day, plus new ones are also being grown..... I doubt I could give an acurate answer.

Buuuutt.....103,794 hairs, at the moment.

exactly.

To be honest its like a trick question, it cant be solved. unless God comes along.

funky penguin

Originally posted by Frugu
exactly.

To be honest its like a trick question, it cant be solved. unless God comes along.

I told you, I had 103,794 at the time of post.

Why would I lie?

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
Why would I lie?

To prove me wrong of course

funky penguin

And I did.

Kai

Originally posted by funky penguin
Why would I lie?

Originally posted by funky penguin
And I did.

i appreciate your honesty

The Jack

A great man knows his limits, but an even greater man knows he has no limits.

simu

The Jack wrote:

A great man knows his limits, but an even greater man knows he has no limits.

I don't know about that. Humans have many limits - unavoidable physical and mental limits and ethical limits that are needed if we want to have a peaceful & just society.

DadaKopf

Robert Wyatt once sang in 'Free Will and Testament':

Given free will but within certain limitations,
I cannot will myself to limitless mutations,
I cannot know what I would be if I were not me,
I can only guess me.

Great song (rest of it is here).

stratos

A lot of humans I deal with have no limits and just when you thought things could sink no lower the sump pit kicks in and they sink lower.

Pherekydes

Kai wrote:

I came up with a theory me and my friends used to have a laugh about :

"no one knows ANYTHING"

So, you don't know everything about your own theory!

Why not keep quiet about your theory until you know it inside and out, and then shock us with your epistemological genius. Oops, then you'd be disproving your own theory.

funky penguin

simu wrote:

I don't know about that. Humans have many limits - unavoidable physical and mental limits and ethical limits that are needed if we want to have a peaceful & just society.

Personnally, I think that these limits only exist because we have created them ourselves.