How much do you really know?

Question

My pastor asked an interesting question. How much of what you know -- EVERYTHING you know -- do you know firsthand or because you have read it somewhere or other people told it to you? When you really think about it, it's kind of scary how little we really know firsthand. What do you all think?

It just seems that we have to rely on the honesty and/or sanity of so many of our "teachers" -- historians, journalists, scientists, etc. -- people we don't know and never will know -- for what we believe to be truth. It's just kind of mind-boggling when you think about it!

It just seems that we have to rely on the honesty and/or sanity of so many of our "teachers" -- historians, journalists, scientists, etc. -- people we don't know and never will know -- for what we believe to be truth. It's just kind of mind-boggling when you think about it!

Answer 1

Your pastor is right. There is a lot of things we claim to know because we where told that is the way they are or work. So, we all have a lot of wrong information or partially correct information stored in our heads. The thing is that we don't have all the time in the world to try or verify everything and to run a controlled experiment on every single bit of information that is presented to us. So, we take some information as factual even if they may not be for the sake of efficiency. Now, the thing is that a lot of information that is wrong is somewhat harmless. What you need to evaluate is wether knowing that information or lack of it presents a health hazard. For example, there are some jobs that require a certain level of understanding of certain principles and equipment. For example, measuring gas leaks. Most meters that measure the presence of gas or a chemical have to be first turned on in a clean enviroment. That is, in fresh air other wise it will measure wrong. In a cituation like this it is best to make sure you truly understand how the equipment work and how best to trouble shoot the problem. Other stuff may be trivial so is a who cares.

I think what your Pastor was trying to get at is that we must all develop critical thinking skills. This is something society as a whole around the world lacks. You should be able to receive some information from someone and say, "hmmm maybe I should research a bit more on this subject to make sure what was said was correct". One example is the never ending question on wether eggs are good or bad for you? It seems that the anwers changes every week. What you have to look at first is who is saying what. If the message that eggs are good for you and you should eat 3 eggs a day was said by the "egg association of north America" then you should be a bit suspicious. On the other hand you can go about your life being paranoid about every single person or entity in this world. So, pick your fights.

Answer 2

This is a good question.
You know somethings from experiences
but the rest is learned knowledge.
Like for instance (no disrespect )
how do you no your pastor interpretation
of the bible is correct?
And did not man write the bible based
on GOD's word, but don't man make
mistakes and could have mis- understood
some of his words?

We have 2 trust someone and use alot
of common sense and logic and than take
it to GOD 2 ask if it sets right in our soul!

It is scary what we don't no firsthand but you won't
experience everything in life so some things you
just have 2 take some people words for - because
they lived and experienced it.

research, reading, studying is very good and helps
but is it always fact.

Answer 3

That's an interesting question. When you think about it it's probably not very much of what we consider knowledge that we really know firsthand.

Answer 4

This is true, but when we do something firsthand it could also be something we read!! There are also things that happen that even if you haven't done them firsthand..."common" sense will tell you to do it or not to do it.

Answer 5

That's a great question.
I think that the key is to get out and LIVE as much as possible--travel, think, question, study, coexist,etc., and
then what you will know will really be yours.
Good luck

Answer 6

When you say first hand, you mean you learn fire can be painful by touching it? Well actually i don't think it matters where you learn it, parents, new paper, whatever, what mattes is having the knowledge.

Answer 7

you can always learn first hand on many things if you are a observer of life and nature.

Answer 8

100% with doctor here, the more you know, the more you realize how much you dont know.
to add my two cents, knowing is so much different than learning...

Answer 9

The more I learn/know, the more I discover how much I don't know.

Answer 10

Yeah, it gets overwhelming sometimes.