From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Upper Strasburg, PA

What does it mean to know something?

How do you know that you know something?

3/24/2021 4:27:27 AM

Lebanon, Oregon

Ahhh, a deep pondering philosophical question. The type I used to ask under the stars back in my old college days. You must of had a starry night in PA Truckin.

Know body “knows”, you just have faith you know. I know the sky is blue, or is it? My friend is color blind and to him he knows it as grey. So what color is it? You can say you “knew” something after time passes, but you really can’t “know”.

This question is most suited for Gritty. He’ll know.

3/24/2021 7:56:29 AM

Grittyville, WA

I know there are more ways to be wrong than correct.

3/24/2021 8:24:51 AM

Plymouth, MN

We know plenty. Knowledge is built on a foundation of observations made about the natural world that's gotten progressively better over time. Knowledge, given the time, energy, and resources, I could go out and either confirm or refine for myself. You can't do the same with matters of faith. Your friend may not perceive blue the same as you, but that doesn't change the fact that blue is a term that we've given light with a wavelength between 400 and 525 nm.

3/24/2021 9:45:32 AM

The smartest people in the world are those who know what they don't know..

3/24/2021 9:50:52 AM

Grittyville, WA

Graphic (rated R) but if you are into deeper philosophy it might float your boat:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzqA_IUfFak&t=27s
(Matrix movie rehashed)

3/24/2021 9:58:05 AM

South Dakota

When you know, you'll know.

3/24/2021 12:55:48 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

CJB makes a great point about wavelength. That’s a distinction between objective and subjective truth. Objective truths exist in mathematics, for example the square root of 9 is 3. It’s always 3 and it’s only 3. Geometry is full of proofs based on demonstrably true laws of mathematics. Subjective truth is where things are less clear. That’s the truth that we infer from experience. Experience is often misleading. You could train an animal not to eat by associating food with pain and it will become an anxious wreck and waste away out of fear because it “knows” that food is dangerous.

3/24/2021 1:46:23 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

Is religion subjective? Spiritually. Can someone know?

3/24/2021 2:14:05 PM

Upper Strasburg, PA

Aristotle makes a good case for the objective truth of god, which he calls “Prime Mover” in his Metaphysics. I think for the most part, religious experience falls in the category of subjective truth. It’s less akin to calculating wavelengths and more akin to experiencing the aesthetic quality of blueness. There’s a great passage in a story called Hayy ibn Yaqzan wherein the author likens the seeing of God to a moment of viewing the sun in a well polished mirror, when you see neither the sun nor the mirror. There’s a feeling of being immersed in light from beyond what you can observe. If you ever had an experience where you suspected divine intervention, maybe it felt something like that.

3/24/2021 2:52:07 PM

Lebanon, Oregon

Good comment. Many spend a lifetime searching, wanting to know. Instead we rely on faith.

3/24/2021 4:10:32 PM

Mill Bay, British Columbia

All I know for sure, is that I golf Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday and fish Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

3/25/2021 11:42:09 AM

Alaska

Live and let live.

3/25/2021 12:17:44 PM

On top of Brush Mountain, Pa.

Want to avoid death? The way you avoid dying is by never being born. Think about it.

3/25/2021 1:20:40 PM

Honesdale, Pennsylvania

You've got to KNOW when when to hold em'
KNOW when to fold em'
Know when to walk away,
and KNOW when to run!

3/25/2021 2:44:04 PM