Brenton
The uselessness of ‘knowing’
February 19th 2007 05:41
I explained the whole JFK conspiracy to my Girlfriend the other day. I won’t go into the details of it here, but basically, it suggests there is much more to President Kennedy’s assassination then is widely believed. After I explained it, she looked at me and said ‘That’s why I hate stuff like that. You know something but it’s so useless… like I know that but… now what? What am I supposed to do with that information?’.
And that, I think, is the ticket. What good is it to know what something is, if you can’t apply the information?
As far as I can see, the value is in gaining a higher force than information and knowledge; Understanding. One may know a dozen facts about what people around them do, and each one of these facts may be trivial or useless. However, when something big goes down, one can help themselves to understand what has happened through the greater understanding about the nature of their friends they have achieved through these hundreds of ‘useless facts.’
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Knowing alot can help fill in your understanding of what constitutes reality
As far as I can see, the value is in gaining a higher force than information and knowledge; Understanding. One may know a dozen facts about what people around them do, and each one of these facts may be trivial or useless. However, when something big goes down, one can help themselves to understand what has happened through the greater understanding about the nature of their friends they have achieved through these hundreds of ‘useless facts.’
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Comment by Adrian
Philosophy Blog
I think it's difficult to think that any knowledge is useless. If your girlfriend is ever called on to talk about possible conspiracy theories, she can draw on the words you just gave her. The most obscure statement we've learnt can be used in some situation or other.
And you're right -- there's a sort of satisfaction in knowing, regardless of practical use (or rather, that satisfaction IS its practical use).
Comment by Mark Schultz
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I would also not group together useless information about friends and useless information about conspiracy theories. The information about your friends is much more likely to be beneficial to you than knowing the theories on who shot Kennedy, so the comparison between the two doesn't really hold water.
Comment by yoda76
The Tube Blog
Look at some of the justifications being given for the war in Iraq, or how Bush 'won' the election.
There are too many people in this world willing to pull the wool over our eyes. Just because you can't do anything about it this time, doesn't mean you can't see it coming next time.
And as for conspiracy theories (I love a good one, especially JFK), in the immortal words of a rock poet: "Just because you're paranoid, don't mean they're not after you."
Comment by Brenton
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I thought that the above concept was worth thinking about though.