Philosophy 25 Oct 2006 23:36:34
Masters
- Those who do not know, and know that they do not know, help them…for they are..but a child in arms.
- Those who know, but know not that they know, awaken them…for they are…but asleep.
- Those who do not know and know not that they do not know, avoid them…for they are…but the fools of yester-year.
- Those who know and know that they know, follow them…for they are…the true masters of our universe.
– unknown author
2 Responses to “Masters”
on 09 Dec 2006 at 16:39:25 1.squirrl said …
very deep my friend, love it very much.
listen to me, my son, said the devil
while he placed his hand upon my head
Edgar A. Poe
from “Silence-a fabel”
on 01 May 2007 at 14:50:08 2.Stormbull said …
fascinating statement of what some contemporary philosophers call the KK principle,
i.e.
that if i know something, then for it to count as knowledge i must know that i know it (kk – know that i know)
i would say this is not the case
for example, say someone goes into an exam, and answers everyting, and when outside is asked, ‘how did you think it went?’ honestly replies. ‘well it was a tough exam, and im not sure if i did well.’
later it turns out they have aced the exam, with an A++ result
well we would say, yeah they knew the subject, yet they are unsure that they know it, breaking the kk principle
haveing said that, there must be a concept stronger than knowledge then, perhaps we should reserve the name ‘certainty’ for it. where we are somehow sure of what it turns out we know.
there may be a further distinction to make between ‘certain’ and ‘demonstrably certain’ where not only are you sure, but you can demonstrate the basis of the certainty. although in practice, that is actually very rare indeed.