Can Humans actually attain and retain knowledge?

1. 61

   Kyle Payneposted 12 years ago

   Can Humans actually attain and retain knowledge?

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      LoveLikeASunsetposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Yes. Human can develop and evolve. We can attain knowledge and also expand our ability to attain said knowledge. At least, that's what i think.

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Both as to individuals and society, my conclusion is yes. Leastwise until the next Dark Ages or other mess comes along...

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      Philanthropy2012posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      The difficulty of this question having been found in the specificity of 'humans' and the subjectivity of 'knowledge', one can conclude that not all humans are capable of attaining and retaining knowledge, but also that no human can ever attain knowledge since they will never fully know whether it is knowledge or not.
      
      The argument would be false however, since the subjectivity lies within the  realms of the human, knowledge is objective in the universe outside of them, and so given that at least one human has stumbled upon one objective truth that lies within our universe, the statement "humans can actually attain and retain knowledge" would be true.
      
      However, if the previous paragraph was true, then no one would ever know it was ever true.
      
      Good question.

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      kessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Can you find knowledge without the human?
      so then knowledge is the human.

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         psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Um, yes, beings that are not human can attain knowledge (learn) also.

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            kessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I would like an introductiontion to those 'beings'.

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               psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Chicken, rat, etc.  Sentient animals.

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      R. J. Lefebvreposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Kyle,
      Yes, most often in a primary personal objective, and consequently uses most of the time on their chosen objective. Our mental capabilities start to decline when we take on more than we can handle.

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      phillippeengelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Humans can learn and study, and in some instances, they score straight A's in examinations and clinch so many types of awards. This shows that humans can attain and retain knowledge.

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2. 61

   knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

   If not I have wasted my life. But still it is fun.

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3. 61

   Kyle Payneposted 12 years ago

   Well it is somewhat of a skeptically question. Bu if one takes nothing for granted and is critical of everything this question will arise. It is a fundamental question.

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   novicemuseposted 12 years ago

   I think what's interesting is what some philosophers speculated about: whether the mind can actually know about anything other than the mind. It's true, all of our thinking occurs in the mind, so what if everything is getting jumbled up in the mind or is rerouting itself and skewing our perception. After all, we only know what we perceive to be true as true. What if everything is merely a projection of the mind? I don't actually believe it is but it's an interesting concept to explore. And the universe outside our realm is objective, but we can only know what is within our realm. And anyway, technically we can't be entirely objective. Everything about us influences what we do and even the machines we make, although they do not have opinions or anything, are made in the way that WE consider best and most efficient. We only know about objectivity in our own REALM of objectivity. We judge the universe by how it appears to us, how the laws connect according to our logic, but circumnavigating back to the prompt, that may not be accurate still. We only know what we think we know. We may not really understand or have knowledge in the objective sense, but then again reality, which is where we often derive knowledge from, is quite relative. Anyway, I like the question and I love epistemology.

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      Kyle Payneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It is nice to see someone who is not a neophyte in the subject.

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         novicemuseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Haha I'm just a student and definitely not some erudite philosopher or anything, but I just find it all intriguing.

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            Kyle Payneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            A philosopher is a student, a student of the mind. They let reason solve problems and enrich human endeavors.

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      AshtonFireflyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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   Doc Snowposted 12 years ago

   Call me a raving pragmatist/realist/simpleton, but the fact that we are are reading and writing these comments strongly suggests an affirmative answer to the question.

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      Kyle Payneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, you are more than likely correct. This is a philosophical question though, which means everything must be questioned.

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   Jeff Berndtposted 12 years ago

   Well, it's  very good question. Others have already touched on the subjectivity of our own observations. I see a color and call it 'green.' You see the same color and call it 'green.' We can both agree that when we see that color, we call it 'green,' but we have no way of knowing if what we call green looks the same to me as it does to you. But: we can have a pretty good idea that it always looks the same to me and it always looks the same to you; whenever wee see that color, we each identify it as 'green.'
   
   At some point, we have to accept that the things we perceive are really there most of the time. Otherwise we'd never be able to get anything done.
   
   And for a species that can't attain and retain knowledge, we've accomplished some pretty cool stuff.
   
   And some bad stuff, too, I guess, but hey, nobody's perfect.

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7. 84

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   How is it a good question?  If we couldn't, we would not be able to work or feed ourselves and would all be dead.  Every time we left the house we would never find our way back again.

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   Insane Mundaneposted 12 years ago

   This is an asinine question...  With or without that "subjective/objective" hogwash and philosophical baloney of overly analytical proportions, the answer is simply 'yes'...  If the answer was 'no'...you wouldn't even be on this computer right now, as it would have never been invented.  I hate to say it, but, uh, "duh!"

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