Must We Know Everything?

[Angrboda]

What interests me is why theists think that knowing the origins of the universe, life, or humans matters to the question of whether there is a god. Why is it that anyone would think that we don't know necessarily means there is a god?

Because it sets up an argument from ignorance which is superficially compelling if you don't understand the fallacy.

e.g.
1. Either the flagellum evolved or it didn't;
2. We don't know how the flagellum evolved;
3. Therefore the flagellum probably didn't evolve.
Therefore design

#3 doesn't follow from 1 and 2; but people not familiar with the fallacy are easily misled by such arguments.

[Clueless Morgan]

What a quotable thread, everyone!



It's a mark of ignorance to me to say that we will one day know everything there is to know. A big discovery in science doesn't simply an answer a burning question we've asked for a long time, it can often open the door to a whole knew field of inquiry to pursue, and I have no reason to think that this won't hold into the future.

Must we know everything?

I think a sentiment similar to this is what drives a lot of people into the sciences to discover new things about life, the planet and the universe. It's the human obsession with explaining the world we live in. Luckily for us, we discovered the scientific method so we could stop fooling ourselves into explanations that weren't or aren't true.

[JuliaL]

Can we know everything?
I don't construct very complicated arguments, but:
If we were to know everything, wouldn't that entail knowing the non-existence of unknown unknowns?

Wouldn't that mean you know what you don't know?
Doesn't that sort of logical inconsistency show the incoherence of omniscience?

I'm pretty relaxed about not knowing everything if it is logically impossible.

[bennyboy]

What interests me is why theists think that knowing the origins of the universe, life, or humans matters to the question of whether there is a god. Why is it that anyone would think that we don't know necessarily means there is a god?

Because that's what God is-- the magical answer fairy.

[Whateverist]

Can we know everything?
I don't construct very complicated arguments, but:
If we were to know everything, wouldn't that entail knowing the non-existence of unknown unknowns?

Those had better not be on the test or we're all screwed.