Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Why is it that you think you know anything?


Why is it that you think you know anything? Think of something you know. Now think of some reason why in fact, you don't actually know it. If you can't, I can. Without too much difficulty.
The thing about people that is infuriating is that they don't acknowledge that they are different than dogs or other animals. A dog cannot know that he does not know something. If a dog only ever encounters one man who wears a polka dot cap who beats him mercilessly everytime he sees him, he will always be frightened of men in polka dotted caps. He cannot use reason to suppose the existence of other men in polka dotted caps who are not bent on beating him. He is a slave to his experience and assumes that he knows something about the world because of it.
Humans should know better. In any analysis, an entire human lifetime is a rounding error. Your experience of men, women, people of any race or geographical location or musical taste or dress type or anything else is nothing. It's a drop in a vast ocean. It is not enough to know anything. Eine mal ist kein mal.