ya know?

Have you ever heard people say things like: You know better than that. Or, I know, hang on, argh! I know that I know the answer. Or, I just know, don’t ask me how, I just do. Or, I know what you’re thinking. Or, I know, cuz I read it on Wikipedia. Or, I know, cuz it’s in the Bible.

Knowledge is a very mushy subject, as in grey mushy between the ears, but so is perception, and imagining, and dreaming, and insanity. What do we know, and what do we think we know? How does what we don’t know impact what we think we know? Furthermore, how much do we have to know, to say we know? I know how to play a piano—a little—ok a few bars of Mary had a little lamb. Mike Janzen KNOWS piano, but ask him if he knows all there is to know.

Epistemology (the study or a theory of the nature and grounds of knowledge especially with reference to its limits and validity) is primarily concerned with propositional knowledge (A statement or assertion that expresses a judgment or opinion). The discussion requires many terms, I want to focus on two of them, justification and foundation. Every idea, notion, thought that we hold as knowable, must lean on or be founded on some truth. Like a child’s wooden building blocks, the top block is only as steady, or reliable as any of the blocks supporting it. Often when asked how we justify a point of view, a belief, we point to something else as backup. That usually works, until someone drills down asking, how do you know that? When this happens we often don’t know, “I just know” is our only answer. We always articulate the foundations of our own knowledge, or we’ve held that point of view for so long that it was evolved to the point of being unchallenged, and therefore most likely true. When we do discover a faulty block, we often defend it, or we justify it by introducing a new supporting truth. If we feel threatened, we often play a trump card, one that can’t be challenged. The ultimate trump card is “The Word of God.” To say that your foundation is the Bible, the inerrant word of God, certainly puts a stop to the drilling. It is a great repellant to critical thinking, but it may inadvertently retard healthy growth.

My conclusion? Most of what I think I know is really just belief. Most of what I know, has been shared with me, through people I’ve been told are reliable. I’ve been told. Some of what I was told to believe, and to treat like knowledge, was founded on “The Word of God.” Then I met other people who told me different things that were based on “The Word of God”. Then I was told they were heretics.

We have all come to appreciate the power and authority of knowledge. How do I know? I just know. It’s a trump card. You think you saw a man in a blue jacket? I know it was red. TRUMP. I know. The truth is we don’t know as much as we think we know, and we have no idea what impact what we don’t know might have on what we think we know. We all need to be a little more humble and just say it like it is, “I believe” and then be brave and open minded enough to say, “tell me what you believe.”