Knowing more than others is not enough to KNOW
Knowing more than others is not enough to NOT be wrong
Also, of course: knowing that others are wrong doesn’t mean you’re right
You’re merely NOT wrong in the same way that they are
Also, of course: knowing a lot about unknowable is not enough. It’s still unknowable
Also of course: Knowing a lot of IRRELEVANT knowledge about the subject does not substitute the relevant knowledge
Multiple logical fallacies hinge on that misunderstanding
E.g. you might have spent a lot of time in a car — doesn’t mean you could build one
Or you might have spent a lot of time working for a corporation — still doesn’t mean you have ANY clue how to run one
Or you may know a lot about the colour red — still doesn’t mean you know why your blood is red
Or you may know a lot about football teams — doesn’t mean you can play football
Or you might have known BOB your entire life and know everything about him — you still don’t know where he is right now, what he’s doing, and who broke into your garage
etc
Knowing a lot — and STILL not knowing — is annoying
Because it feels like a waste of that knowledge
Knowing a LOT MORE THAN OTHERS is even more annoying
Knowing that they are wrong is very annoying
And EXTREMELY ANNOYING if despite all that — you’re still wrong
You might have read 10 books about string theory — unless you’re a trained physicist, probably expert in that field — you still know fuck-all. You basically know nothing. You couldn’t answer any non-trivial question about string theory better than someone who still thinks the earth is flat
And, OF COURSE, politics
The bar is really not set very high, is it?
Everyone has opinions
Average person is an idiot
And you need opinions to vote
All that results in the worst takes all around you
RAMPANT ignorance
Even worse now in the social media age
And yet,
you have to live with the fact that on many subjects, you’re as wrong as those ignorant idiots
Because some subjects are just very complicated,
Some subjects you ACTUALLY have to be an expert, oppressive as it sounds
So as usual, in all matters of knowledge and epistemology
“Scio me nihil scire”, “I know that I know nothing” — remains the deepest of wisdom
It doesn’t teach you to merely make a pretence of false humbleness while everyone is clapping after your grand speech
It really teaches you to listen to the worst, most nonsensical takes you have ever heard,
and still admit that you hardly know more than they do
Because for all that you know — in this particular matter the answer is so complicated, that you likely are ultimately just as wrong
As unlikely to guess the answer as they are
Even if you know 100 times more than they do, and think 100 times more sharply and clearly
You still don’t know the answer
They all think they know the answer
You know 100 times more and think 100 times more sharply — and you know that you don’t know
And no, it’s not just string theory and rocket science and algebraic geometry, etc.
It can be some social problem, or some war, or someone saying something mean, etc.
It could be on everyone’s lips, it could be anything
And you have to listen to it
And you have to hear all that nonsense
And then you learn about it
And then you too have opinions about it
And yet it helps nothing
Because you’re also wrong
What great wisdom is in knowing that
And knowing when to turn blind and deaf