Re: Knowledge and Ignorance over Time

"David Cressey" <dcressey_at_verizon.net> wrote in message news:sVBnf.3791$Kk7.1967_at_trndny05...
> Paul C. said that he's still far from a database expert. So am I. But
> I've been learning, since about 1980.
>
> Over time (a long time!) I've noticed a pattern in the growth of my
> knowledge.
>
> If my knowledge base is likened to a sphere in a boundless universe,
> here's
> the pattern:
>
> My apparent knowledge grows like the radius of the sphere (like R).
> My apparent ignorance grows like the surface area of the sphere (like R
> squared).
> And the number of things I must keep in my head grows like the volume of
> the
> sphere (like R cubed).
>
> At some point, this looks like a case of diminishing marginal returns.
> But
> I wouldn't choose to go back to being as ignorant as I was when I was
> twenty, even if I got to be as smart as I was when I was twenty.

IMO knowledge and ignorance works something like you have described above with the spherical coordinates and dimensions R, A, V. However I have found that while a certain class of "things in this life" can be either
known (data value) or unknown (look at this null!) there are certainly another
class of "things in this life" which are essentially unknowable (with respect
to the intellect).

Humans have three inner capacities: instinct, intellect and intuition whereas
the environment of database theory really is only modelling the intellect, which
is essentially machine-like in its operation.

Over time, irrespective of the fields in which we humans deploy ourselves, it is good to evaluate our knowledge and ignorance of the world outside the artificial and industrial man-created systems, because there exists a natural world in which we have an existence independent of this industry, even if we have been in it for 30 or 40 years.

Best wishes,

-- 
Pete Brown
IT Managers & Engineers
Falls Creek
Australia
www.mountainman.com.au/software