What Can I Know? How Much Can I Ever Know?
If we assume that all we can 'know' is based on the five senses (hearing, vision, smell, touch and taste) then all we can potentially 'know' is limited by the built-in boundaries these five senses inherently possess. However, if we view the senses with a greater but as yet unfulfilled potential then perhaps there are more things (of an undetermined extent) that we can 'know'. Where the limits of our knowledge may be, we cannot say. The capabilities of the senses we possess and how the evolution of our brain affects them will be the determining factor of what we can ultimately 'know'. Although this may be true in the physical sense, the spiritual sense is a whole different matter.
There are people who claim to see beyond the extent of the five senses, possibly a sixth sense, and others suggest even more senses beyond our 'collective imagination'. If we take the view that some undefined "spiritual sense" is possible then spiritual development itself offers an additional avenue of knowledge - and perhaps wisdom - that we may consider feasible in knowing more things then the current senses allow.
If we think that what we can 'know' is based solely on quantifiable measures then what we are dealing with is a physical reality of infinite facts. Is it reasonable to want to 'know' everything that is possible, or is it more credible to want to 'know' the things we need at any given moment for living our life and dealing with the complexities it presents? What accentuates our motivation to search for more is curiosity and it is this quality that mystifies the urge to search at all.
Anyone who has studied Calculus should remember the concept of infinity: we approach it but never by definition reach it because that would preclude its existence. So even if we expand the current level of our physical senses there would still be things we cannot 'know' because we are finite, living in an infinite universe. The very nature of our existence would preclude us from amassing all knowledge even if that is our aim.
If we consider spirit to be part of our true nature and the infinite universe then, although continually evolving, we would still need to evolve so far beyond what our present spiritual awareness can even conceive possible to 'know' the true extent of our knowledge capability.
So the question of what can be considered our knowledge potential becomes an irrelevant venture. It would seem more fruitful to search for the things we need to 'know' to help us achieve a greater understanding in dealing with our circumstances at any given moment (with reasonable patience) and accept evolution as the natural path for all things to unfold in its own time, and trust it as the best way to understand ourselves, the apparent limits of our universe and perhaps the reason why we exist at all.
2 comments:
Is there a limit to a knowlege, both for the individual, and wholly?
Is knowledge infinite?
Thank you for you questions. I am not sure if I have answered them. Im not sure anyone can give a definitive answer. But they are questions worth asking and thinking about.
Is knowledge infinite?
Since I am not an authority on knowledge, I can only give my own opinion. There would be some who would say that for knowledge to exist at all, it would need someone to perceive it, grasp and understand it, organize it and put it in some comprehensible format. But this is not saying anything about whether knowledge is infinite. What it is suggesting is that knowledge can only be as infinite as the in-finiteness of itsperceiver.
If we regard math and numbers as symbols representing any kind of knowledge such as individual facts, dates, chemical bonds etc, first can we ask if there is a final number by which no number will go beyond? To my knowledge we can't find that "end number" to prove infinity doesn't exist. Numbers don't end, they just keep going on and on.
If on the other hand, we use math and numbers to represent events that happen either on earth or elsewhere in the universe without characterizing those events as part of any particular knowledge or discipline, except that they occur, then can we say that there is a final event after which no other event will occur? I don't think we can say there is an end event. The issue now is whether knowledge can exist if we (humanity) are not there to record it, accumulate or organize it. Do things become "knowledge" because we exist to observe them or does "knowledge" exist for its own sake, to be discovered? My opinion is that "knowledge" exists for its own sake. If we are not there to observe it, that doesn't mean knowledge-potential doesn't exist.
Is there a limit to "a" knowledge, both for the individual and wholly?
For the individual, knowledge is limited by the fact that our life spans are finite. In that time we are capable of learning as much knowledge as our brains allow us to absorb through the boundaries of our five senses.
It is possible that some knowledge of certain subjects, such as extinct species, is limited by the fact that the species no longer exists. But if we talk about subjects such as astrophysics, we are dealing with things in the cosmic realm that occur whether we are there to view them or not.
I would like very much to hear more opinions on the subject.
Post a Comment