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No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

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Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#41

Post by felixc »

tom_rath wrote: post #35
kqr2 wrote: post #28

Reminds me of the quote from Rumsfeld. Reformatted by http://www.slate.com/id/2081042/ The Unknown As we know, There are known knowns. There are things we know we know. We also know There are known unknowns. That is to say We know there are some things We do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns, The ones we don't know We don't know.

It always bugged me how Rumsfeld was slagged for that statement. I found it a very clear explanation of the difficulty in assessing a chaotic environment.

Agreed. Much like the "series of tubes" comment from Stevens -- that's a perfectly good analogy, and one that technically-inclined people use all the time in some variant like "fat pipes". He said so much other ridiculous stuff that I can't understand why people picked on the one thing that almost made sense.

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#44

Post by harpastum »

Personally, all I could think about after reading this article was the song Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas:

    You think I'm an ignorant savage
    And you've been so many places
    I guess it must be so
    But still I cannot see
    If the savage one is me
    How can there be so much that you don't know
    You don't know 

    ...

    But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger
    You'll learn things you never knew you never knew
That seems to pretty precisely describe the two groups: Pocahontas being in the nurse's position, unsure of her own stance, while the English men squarely fit into the egotistical group.

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#46

Post by noonespecial »

fbu wrote: post #5
fnid2 wrote: post #2

Sometimes, in conversations with others, I hear them say with complete confidence stuff that I know is total crap. It's like I just can't get over how absolutely wrong they are and yet how absolutely right they believe they are. So I start wondering how many times I do exactly the same thing. I mean, how can I know what I don't know? How much is there? How do I even know if something I really believe is true or not?…

This happens to me quite often but if I think a bit about it, I'm not 100% sure either why they're completely wrong. If you want to get into the conversation (not recommended as it gets ugly quite often when people are completely sure of something * caugh...republicans... caugh*) it's actually better to argue on why they're wrong to be COMPLETELY sure rather than argue the opposite point you might think is right. The…

All of the best republicans I have known are their own biggest critics. All of the best democrats I've know have been as well.

The problem is that its the most cock-sure on either side that get into the intractable arguments with each other, or worse, rush into action so sure that they are correct that they never even consider the unintended consequences.

Sadly, it also makes them much more likely to be elected.

Anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. - Douglas Adams

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#47

Post by invisible »

I like to think "hackers" (or those with engineering knowledge) have a small "shit we don't know" area. If I am to, say, put up a wall where there was once a door my first reaction would be, "Oh, I need to look this up." I would find it via some search engine, read about it, and then find the specs for a wall. Find that I need drywall, footers, etc., see if there are any special circumstances that apply. Is there shit I don't know? Possibly, but I think "we" do research twice and action once.

Edit: Or who knows, maybe I don't know that we don't know when enough research is enough.

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#48

Post by gridspy »

pyre wrote: post #37
btilly wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you had a noticeable fraction of their fame, wealth or power?

Does the world reward suicide? That's an act. :P

Isn't that the decision to stop acting for the rest of time?

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#49

Post by toadpipe »

What a crock. The things we know amount to nothing compared to the things we don't, and education doesn't even move the needle on that dial. So what? What matters is what you need to know to accomplish some goal vs. what you know right now, and that's much more tractable. Focusing on the (incorrect) idea that no one else knows anything either so you're just fine the way you are is pabulum designed to boost self-esteem at the expense of actually learning something.

Re: No One Knows What the F*** They're Doing (or "The 3 Types of Knowledge")

#50

Post by blueben »

harpastum wrote: post #44

Personally, all I could think about after reading this article was the song Colors of the Wind from Pocahontas : You think I'm an ignorant savage And you've been so many places I guess it must be so But still I cannot see If the savage one is me How can there be so much that you don't know You don't know ... But if you walk the footsteps of a stranger You'll learn things you never knew you never knew That seems to pr…

Gave you a point for quoting a song from a Disney animated film on HN while remaining relevant.
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