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Discussion » Questions » Life and Society » Unless you know everything you cannot rule out anything. Even so, do you? What and why ?
RosieG

Unless you know everything you cannot rule out anything. Even so, do you? What and why ?

Posted - November 13, 2017
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Responses


  • 46117
    Unanswerable
      November 13, 2017 10:45 AM MST
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  • 113301
    For you only. Others answered it.
      November 14, 2017 5:54 AM MST
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  • 7280
    But we can know everything about something---the times table for example.

    And other things we can know enough about in order to come to reasonable conclusions about expectations with a certain level of confidence.

    And bovine excrement is immediately recognizable and identifiable to the exclusion of anything else---both the physical and the intellectual kind.

    And Aristotle got it right when he said that the human mind is a machine for coming to conclusions.
      November 13, 2017 11:17 AM MST
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  • 113301
    You cannot know ANYTHING about something you know naught of. If you don't know it exists how can you know it is or anything else about it? I think we know not about far more than we know of.There are many things outside our ken and we know not how many that is. It would be very good if it were possible to know something about all the things we know naught about but it isn't. For example what does a dog whistle sound like? We will never know. It is beyond the human ear ability to hear. Well how many other things exist outside our senses and we cannot know because we are not equipped to know? But I digress. Thank you for your reply tom and Happy Tuesday!  :)
      November 14, 2017 5:43 AM MST
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  • 7280
    A dog whistle has an electronic representation, just like other sounds.  By comparing it's signature to that of sound we can hear, we can use that knowledge to have a rather impressive concept of how a dog whistle works.

    We humans always use deductive and inductive reasoning to extend our knowledge of what we know.  It's pretty effective.
      November 14, 2017 9:25 AM MST
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  • 113301
      In a limited way. It is not comprehensive by any means. Thank you for your reply tom.
      November 15, 2017 2:21 AM MST
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  • 22891
    thats true
      November 13, 2017 2:44 PM MST
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  • 6023

    Preposterous.
    I don't know everything ... yet there are many things I can rule out.
    I can rule out the existence of unicorns, catoblepas, gorgons, and many other mythical creatures.
    I can rule out that the solar system revolves around the Earth. 
    I can rule out the existence of logic and reason in the majority of politics.

    What's a catoblepa, you ask?
    The catoblepas is a legendary creature from Ethiopia, described first by Pliny the Elder and later by Claudius Aelianus. It is said to have the body of a buffalo and the head of a wild boar. Its back has scales that protect the beast, and its head is always pointing downwards due to its head being heavy. Its stare or breath could either turn people into stone, or kill them.

    This post was edited by Walt O'Reagun at November 13, 2017 3:43 PM MST
      November 13, 2017 3:42 PM MST
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  • 113301
    You are very certain about all of that Walt? Are you a quantum physics fan? Ever read Scientific American magazine? In the May 2003 magazine the front page states "Infinite Earths in PARALLEL UNIVERSES Really Exist . The article begins on Page 41 and ends on Page 51. It discusses Multiverses of which there are 4 levels. In those other universes which you do not inhabit you cannot know what exists and what doesn't. Similarly in your world you are limited to your senses. You see the world as 3-dimensional but perhaps it consists of 10 dimensions, 7 of which you will never be able to access. There is a splendid book out of print  called FLATLAND. It is about 2-dimensional creatures living in a 3-dimensional world and what that world looks like to them. Don't know if you're interested in any of this but I just thought I'd mention it in case you are. You might pooh pooh Scientific American and quantum physicists. I don't know you but your reply seems very certain and sure about many things. Your doors are closed to those possibilities. None of my doors are closed. Different strokes. Thank you for your reply and Happy Tuesday. Do you know what a dog whistle sounds like? Maybe there are many things surrounding you that exist just like the dog whistle that only dogs can hear only you are limited and unable to perceive them. Then again maybe what you perceive is all there is. The point is No One Knows For Sure. :) In my opinion. This post was edited by RosieG at November 14, 2017 5:53 AM MST
      November 14, 2017 5:52 AM MST
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  • 6023

    Okay ... I have believed in multiverses for over 30 years, so my answer must be taken in context of what exists in THIS cosmos.
    Especially considering the multiverse hasn't been proven to exist, only theorized.
    Unless you believe the "creation myths" of the Hopi Indians, who say this is the 4th or 5th dimension they have fled to - escaping a "great evil".
      (should scientists start naming multiverses?  Or at least come up with a name for OURS?)

    Of course, if one is going to use the multiverse as a possibility ... one could also use the possibility that *I* am the cause of all existence.
    I mean, how do we know for sure everything won't vanish when I die?  LOL

     

    This post was edited by Walt O'Reagun at November 14, 2017 7:51 AM MST
      November 14, 2017 7:49 AM MST
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  • 6098
    Becoming philosophical now?   Well I think we have to in making a life for ourselves. We find what works for us, what we are comfortable with, what we are capable of, where our talents or strengths lie, and go with those rather than other things that perhaps do not suit us.  So we are automatically editing our lives and some things we leave behind or fall by the wayside for us so guess you could call that ruling them out.  Though they might work for others. 
      November 14, 2017 5:54 AM MST
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