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Can you know too much?

RobertU

RobertU

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Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
 
Yep. The atomic bomb is a prime example.
 
RobertU said:
Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
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I'd say distrust or hostility towards knowledge. The key those stories show is not the pursuit of knowledge, but how knowledge is used. Knowledge is power and it's easier for an authority to keep others in line or under control if they are kept ignorant. The pursuit of knowledge is empowering and something to be encouraged and applauded.
 
Depends on who and what is there. Sounds simplistic but still quite true.
Personally, knowing about the crimes committed by the scoundrels of the world saddens this poster to know end.
On the other hand, learning about the Cosmos is unbelievably calming.
Feeling small and non-important and yet a part of the universe causes me to think....I am aware of my existence and that's
more that 99.98 percent of the matter we humans are aware of. :) I feel pretty damn lucky!
 
HIP56948 said:
On the other hand, learning about the Cosmos is unbelievably calming.
Feeling small and non-important and yet a part of the universe causes me to think....I am aware of my existence and that's
more that 99.98 percent of the matter we humans are aware of. :) I feel pretty damn lucky!
Click to expand...
Not just calming, but wondrous and exciting too. To think we are composed of the most abundant elements of the universe. It makes one seem like they're truly part of the universe itself.
 
RobertU said:
Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
Click to expand...
Many of the posts here on DP show that widespread ignorance is more common than excessive knowledge. So no need to worry too much about the latter.
 
It would be wise to be selective of the knowledge one takes in...not all knowledge/books upbuilds/refreshes the mind...knowledge definitely molds one's thinking...

"As for anything besides these, my son, be warned: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh." Ecclesiastes 12:12
 
I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain. (Eccl 1:17f)
 
RobertU said:
Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
Click to expand...
Knowledge can be misused, but you can never have too much of it.
 
donhughesmusic said:
It also within minutes could be our destruction.
Click to expand...
If used incorrectly.
Elora said:
It would be wise to be selective of the knowledge one takes in...not all knowledge/books upbuilds/refreshes the mind...knowledge definitely molds one's thinking...

"As for anything besides these, my son, be warned: To the making of many books there is no end, and much devotion to them is wearisome to the flesh." Ecclesiastes 12:12
Click to expand...
Sounds like an excuse and promotion to be ignorant or favor ignorance over knowledge.
 
RobertU said:
Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
Click to expand...
Hard to see the problem.
 
There's a guy on youtube who has experimented with most drugs and is clean now. He talks about his experiences and struggles, and it's pretty informative. I'm glad that my brain doesn't know what some of those drugs feel like.
 
There's a lot of things you don't want to know. These include:
1. How much you coworkers get paid.
2. Gifts & surprises.
3. How sausage is made, the meat plant & other gross stuff.
4. Stuff about people (that may or may not be true) that will bias your preconceptions.
5. People's previous sexual history.

I can go on but you get the idea.
 
dmpi said:
There's a lot of things you don't want to know. These include:
1. How much you coworkers get paid.
2. Gifts & surprises.
3. How sausage is made, the meat plant & other gross stuff.
4. Stuff about people (that may or may not be true) that will bias your preconceptions.
5. People's previous sexual history.

I can go on but you get the idea.
Click to expand...
I know to not eat sausage.
 
I believe I perceive things that other people don’t. Alas, like the man with the X-ray eyes, I may only be recognized as a side show in the political forum carnival.
 
RobertU said:
Can you know too much or be too zealous about pursuing knowledge? The penalties and dangers of pursuing knowledge have been expressed in mythology and culture.

The Greek god Prometheus was chained to a rock where his liver was eaten by an eagle in a continuous cycle after he gave fire and knowledge to humanity. Per Wikipedia:

In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving (particularly the quest for scientific knowledge) and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy.

A more contemporary example of the folly of seeing and knowing all was depicted in the 1963 movie X: The Man with the X-ray Eyes, in which Ray Milland portrays a doctor who invents eye drops that give him X-ray vision. After accidentally killing a friend, he flees to a carnival where he puts his super vision to work as a mind reader. His increasingly powerful vision becomes a curse, and he finally sees beyond the stars to gaze upon the "eye that sees us all" in the center of the universe. He follows a preacher’s admonition, “If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out!”

Do these tales serve a valuable purpose or are they more a reflection of public distrust and fear of intellectuals and scientists, a fear exploited by populist politicians?
Click to expand...
I suspect the problem isn't knowing too much qua knowing, but knowing without the other epistemic goods--such as understanding and wisdom--that keep the knowledge in question beneficent and in proper relation to everything else in life.

People have brought up the nuclear bomb. We'll be very thankful to have the bomb if we discover an asteroid on an orbit that would, in about two-year's time, impact the earth with such force it would destroy all life on this planet. We'd have enough time and enough bombs in that scenario to alter its trajectory. On the other hand, it sure seems like we often come dangerously close to wiping out all life on the planet ourselves by use of those very same bombs...and in retrospect, it often seems like those incidents had a ready solution that should have been obvious to everyone, but that was not.

In general, I think we emphasize knowledge at the expense of understanding and wisdom...which is what we should really be focusing on gaining.

As a final remark, I suppose I can think of some things I'd rather not know. I'd rather not know it if my neighbor turned out to be a mafia boss who is unknown to law enforcement. I'd rather not know why accountants seem to think backwards about money. I'd rather not know it if my dog secretly hates me and is just putting up a convincing show of affection for survival's sake.
 
Gordy327 said:
What about nuclear power? Or medical radiological therapies? The atomic bomb helped end WWII.
Click to expand...
The atomic bomb helps end wars? really?

Would you tell Vladimir Putin that now?

Another day we could talk about the damage of an atomic bomb itself.
 
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Peter the Roman said:
The atomic bomb helps end wars? really?

Would you tell Vladimir Putin that now?

Another day we could talk about the damage of an atomic bomb itself.
Click to expand...
You do not think the A-bomb helped end WWII?
 
You can certainly be too zealous. Look at Mengele's experiments. Knowledge must be tempered not just with wisdom, but with compassion.
 
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