To not Know

As humans, we have a need to know. But at the same time there are things we don't want to know. We shut ourselves down when something is being said that we don't want to know, we avoid truths that can hurt us. Or maybe it is more dignifying not to know, respecting someone when they tell you to drop it or knowing that not knowing is safer. There is a relief of not knowing or an intense feeling of curiosity. To not know something that can be known is an odd thing to think about, I think to myself, "Of course I want to know what someone else knows," but then I think about all the things that I don't know because I choose not to know them. There are times when I don't press my friends for information because it seems inappropriate (social pressure) and times when I choose not to know because the truth will hurt me. To know or not to know, that is the question.

To not be able to Know

Many people challenge the unknown, while others wait and wait for someone else to figure out the unknown. I happen to be one of those people waiting, especially lately I am curious about the unknown (I think it may be this class), but I have no plans on figuring anything out for myself. The future is something that no one knows what is in store for us. The new knowledge I have acquired about the environment and (lately) the future of technology, has made me realize how much I don't know and what no one knows. It sucks not being able to know for sure, what I can expect in 10 years. There are predictions about what the future has in store for us (Those Technocalyps moves scare me), most of which don't sound all that appealing. I don't want to live in a world that is over populated, the sun could kill us, weather is unpredictable in an extreme way, vegetation destroyed and robots ruling over humans. I can only hope that all these predictions are over reactions and just ways to get us to pay attention to possibilities in the future. Not know the future and having no way to know, except to live until I reach it is frustrating. Certain thing I can easily live, even ignore the fact that I don't know and there is no way of knowing, but I am a little uneasy about the future.


To Know but forget that you Know

This is an interesting concept, the only thing I can personally relate it to clearly is my horrible eyesight. I know what it feels like to see in color blobs, extremely blurry, to the point that I have to put my alarm clock two inches from my face to see what time it is. I hate this feeling, waking up or walking to the bathroom blind is not fun, it can even be scary. But at the same time, I don't even think about it as soon as I put in my contacts, that feeling disappears. I no longer know that sensation anymore, it is actually kind of sad, everytime I take out my contacts I realize just how bad my eyesight is. Contacts, even glasses, make it so I can forget how bad my sight is. To feel as if I don't know what it is like to be blind (even though technically I am), I see people who are blind (even those that aren't completely blind) and I feel as if I don't have any idea as to what that is like. But after reflecting on it I kind of do, I know what is like not to be able to see the expression on my friends face when I talk to them, and I know what it is like to not be able to see what is right in front of my face. So, the point I am making is that we experience things, but we don't necessarily relate them to similar things, we forget that we know what something is like.


As far as knowing, I am lucky enough to got to college, so I have been taught more than the average Joe my age, therefore I know more. And I will continue to acquire knowledge, but I will really never scratch the surface of knowledge (as far as human capacity goes). I can easily accept that, not knowing is comforting in a way. The future of technology may change the capacity of knowledge, taking away the not knowing and the ability to forget certain things we know, is this something we want? I kind of think it isn't.