Is a little knowledge really a dangerous thing?

[kittyP]

Having got in to a discussion in the "would you kill 100 dogs" thread about being hard wired about something or socially hard wired I came to ponder on...

Is a little knowledge really a dangerous thing?

I was aware I was trying to debate something that I do not fully understand but I know in my limited way that my thoughts were still valid.

Is this statement a way of making very intellectual people feel superior?

Is it only a dangerous thing if you make substantial actions based on the little knowledge?

Am I misunderstanding the saying?

I feel that how do I learn unless I accept that my knowledge is limited but still debate and build on that.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kid_Eternity]

I'd say too little knowledge is a dangerous thing...stupid people are the cause of most of the worlds bad shit.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

As long as you know that it is only a little knowledge, it is a good thing.

It's when people only have a little knowledge but think they have a lot of knowledge that the dangers arise, imo.

I would think that this:

I feel that how do I learn unless I accept that my knowledge is limited but still debate and build on that.

is exactly the right approach.

 

[kittyP]

Hmmm.... I guess so.

 

[weltweit]

Donald Rumsfeld

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.

Feb. 12, 2002, Department of Defense news briefing


I think as long as we bear that in mind we can be safe with limited knowledge.
In many walks of life you never have complete information at the time when you have to take decisions.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

If only he'd stuck to philosophy.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I know a bit about this subject. There follows a massive post that you will need half-an-hour to read. Or maybe not.

 

[kittyP]

I just worry sometimes that I am really uninformed about certain things and there for end up not learning because I don't want to say the wrong thing.
So yes, this was actually a very selfish thread that probably belongs in nobbing and sobbing

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I just worry sometimes that I am really uninformed about certain things and there for end up not learning because I don't want to say the wrong thing.
So yes, this was actually a very selfish thread that probably belongs in nobbing and sobbing

Look here kittyP you have just said the wrong thing. And even worse you have mis-written 'therefore' and turned it into two words. Start sobbing now.

 

[weltweit]

I just worry sometimes that I am really uninformed about certain things and there for end up not learning because I don't want to say the wrong thing.
So yes, this was actually a very selfish thread that probably belongs in nobbing and sobbing

But kittyP I think you have to change your thinking a tiny bit.

Everybody knows a lot about something, but nobody knows a lot about everything.

It is no shame that someone knows more about subject A than you do. You probably know a lot more about subject B than they do.

 

[kittyP]

Look here kittyP you have just said the wrong thing. And even worse you have mis-written 'therefore' and turned it into two words. Start sobbing now.

Thanks. My grammar is terrible

 

[kittyP]

But kittyP I think you have to change your thinking a tiny bit.

Everybody knows a lot about something, but nobody knows a lot about everything.

It is no shame that someone knows more about subject A than you do. You probably know a lot more about subject B than they do.

This is true.
I guess it is a trait of Urban that warps this way of thinking somewhat

 

[discokermit]

.stupid people are the cause of most of the worlds bad shit.

yeh, cos stupid people invented nuclear weapons and apache helicopters. lol.

 

[kyser_soze]

As long as you know that it is only a little knowledge, it is a good thing.

It's when people only have a little knowledge but think they have a lot of knowledge that the dangers arise, imo.

I would think that this:



is exactly the right approach.

^^ This basically ^^ even tho we did disagree on the thread in question.

Just as a generic thing, I have found to my cost on here that reliance on one source, or a limited number of similar sources (e.g. they're all saying similar things, or the people saying the things all come from similar background), is where the phrase becomes most apparent.

 

[Santino]

Knowing a little bit about bomb-making is quite dangerous.

 

[dilute micro]

Yes, in learning to drive.

Here's the accelerator.

 

[Belushi]

yeh, cos stupid people invented nuclear weapons and apache helicopters. lol.

Innit.

 

[quimcunx]

all of these glib little sayings are true in some situations and not in others. And there is often an equally glib saying which suggest the opposite.

Knowing that symptom x is a signifier of rare horrible disease y is useful knowledge if you are at risk of getting y. It's less useful if you don't know that symptom x is also a signifier of loads of other less serious, more common conditions (z) and terrify someone presenting with symptom x. Or if you tell them to take aspirin for z when actually they need to get to hospital quickstylee because they actually have y.

 

[Dillinger4]

Knowledge is a process.