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Alas, Poor Eric

I made it to 51 seconds.

Try this original.

The Doelphic Oracle said that "Socrates was the wisest of men because he kew that he knewnothing"

Before University, like Socrates, I knew that I knew nothing or at least very little. That, acording to the Oracle, made me wise. Now, haveing graduated from the University, I know that I know much more than I ddi when I knew that I knew very little. So the question is, now, that I know that I know more than I knew when I kenw that I knew very little, am I more or less wise.
 
I made it to 51 seconds.

Try this original.

The Doelphic Oracle said that "Socrates was the wisest of men because he kew that he knewnothing"

Before University, like Socrates, I knew that I knew nothing or at least very little. That, acording to the Oracle, made me wise. Now, haveing graduated from the University, I know that I know much more than I ddi when I knew that I knew very little. So the question is, now, that I know that I know more than I knew when I kenw that I knew very little, am I more or less wise.

I would say that it depends upon whether your increased learning has opened your eyes to the infinite learning available to you. If it has, you are more wise, as you were less aware of the vastness of available learning when you "knew less." If, however, your increase learning has erroneously led you to believe that there is less for to learn than there was before, then you are less wise. Looked at as a function of the available knowledge of the universe, as that available knowledge goes to inifinity, the fraction of knowledge one has learned goes to zero.

Mathmatically... [my knowledge] / [total knowledge] = 0 when [total knowledge] = infinity

If you have not grasped, or cannot grasp the above then you are unwise regardless of your level of education.

"Educated" individuals fall on both ends of this spectrum.

A PhD was described to me once as "Imagine the the totality of human knowledge as a giant circle. Now, go the very edge of that circle and imagine an infinitesimal pimple sticking out from the circle. That is a PhD thesis."

Having earned a PhD myself, I think that this is a pretty good visual as it encompasses 2 critical aspects of a PhD. 1.) In the grand scheme of things, a PhD- by itself- is pretty meaningless. 2.) A PhD thesis should not exist within the bounds of current knowledge, but expands the boundaries of our collective understanding of the universe- in whatever field it is undertaken.

Put another way, a PhD is "learning more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing..."
 
It's not what you know,
It's what you don't know.

Sphinx-Mystery-Men-Wes-Studi.jpg

 
I would say that it depends upon whether your increased learning has opened your eyes to the infinite learning available to you. If it has, you are more wise, as you were less aware of the vastness of available learning when you "knew less." If, however, your increase learning has erroneously led you to believe that there is less for to learn than there was before, then you are less wise. Looked at as a function of the available knowledge of the universe, as that available knowledge goes to inifinity, the fraction of knowledge one has learned goes to zero.

Mathmatically... [my knowledge] / [total knowledge] = 0 when [total knowledge] = infinity

If you have not grasped, or cannot grasp the above then you are unwise regardless of your level of education.

"Educated" individuals fall on both ends of this spectrum.

A PhD was described to me once as "Imagine the the totality of human knowledge as a giant circle. Now, go the very edge of that circle and imagine an infinitesimal pimple sticking out from the circle. That is a PhD thesis."

Having earned a PhD myself, I think that this is a pretty good visual as it encompasses 2 critical aspects of a PhD. 1.) In the grand scheme of things, a PhD- by itself- is pretty meaningless. 2.) A PhD thesis should not exist within the bounds of current knowledge, but expands the boundaries of our collective understanding of the universe- in whatever field it is undertaken.

Put another way, a PhD is "learning more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing..."

Sorry to hijack your thread V.

Excellent, insightful reply.

I, with some distain for, and disappointment in, ceased academia with a BA. That is the basic premise of the doctoral thesis, is it not? Not to just review existing data but to expand that knowledge to a new parameter. Always heard PhD stood for Pilled Higher and Deeper but I suppose it could stand for PimplehasDoctorate.;)

"Mathmatically... [my knowledge] / [total knowledge] = 0 when [total knowledge] = infinity" I think this is the gist of what Socrates was saying.


I came to realize, in the contemplation of infinity and infinite, that at leat physically, in an infinite universe (which could well be inclusive of a multitude of multiverses) no matter whare you are, you are always right in the center. Even in you moved a million light years, infinity has no end, so, relatively, youve never moved.

In that contemplation I had an interesting event. I came to infinity both through science and religion. In one of the Hindu Holy texts, the Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Blessed One) the Godhead says there are two paths to itself...surrender/devotion and contemplation. Being the rebellious and independent sort I refused to surrender or be devoted ot anyone so I chose contemplation (which is a devotion of a sort anyway.) After years of contmplating the infinite and eternal, I reached a point that I knew I had to abandon the quest or go crazy, understanding that the infinite reality can not be 'understood' by the finite mind. A couple weeks later in nightly reflection something happend and I was in a vision like state, bodiless, yet seeming to stand at the edge of a precipice and 'experienced' without the need to think about or understad, the infinite. A truly life changing experience.
 
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It's not what you know,
It's what you don't know.

[IMG2=JSON]{"data-align":"none","data-size":"full","src":"http:\/\/www.writeups.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sphinx-Mystery-Men-Wes-Studi.jpg"}[/IMG2]

Is that a selfie of you "In country" Major?:cool:
 
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/b5I94bT23cQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Let's give it full measure, shall we?
 
You guys should apply for SecDef: Known knowns, Know unknowns, Unknown unknowns.

Rumsfeld: "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know."

 
You guys should apply for SecDef: Known knowns, Know unknowns, Unknown unknowns.

Rumsfeld: "Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because, as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don't know. But there are also unknown unknowns. There are things we do not know we don't know."

NIce. I could use the job.

Ive also heard it put "There is the known, the unknown, and the unknowable."
 
Or the always fun... you're so stupid you don't know.
 
"The truth changes" ... I've said this to my Commanding Officers more times than I care to remember.
 
"The truth changes" ... I've said this to my Commanding Officers more times than I care to remember.

Only 'relative' truth, the one with a small 't'. Absolute Truth, with a capital 'T' is of course absolute and unchangable. Also somewhat more difficult to discern, but doable.