I just had a revelation

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The_Exodus

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The other day I had an epiphany, which was this:

I don’t know a damn thing.
 
To know that you do not know is the best.
To pretend to know when you do not know is a disease.
Lao-tzu, The Way of Lao-tzu
Chinese philosopher (604 BC - 531 BC)

Humility is good for the soul!
Bless you!
 
It was indeed a revelation, in the true sense of the word. No one, on their own, would be willing to come to that conclusion. Only God gives us the grace to see that truth. Thank Him from your heart, and now give yourself over to His Will, and your life will be filled with serenity and peace.
 
Here’s what I know: the statement “I know that I know nothing” cannot possibly be true. Why? Because in the statement is a claim to know something. Of course, we get the point. You perhaps don’t even know the definition of knowledge. Or if you do, you are being deceitful.

What about the statement “I don’t know a damned thing” ? What is a damned thing? Damned: held back; made unable to make progress; kept away from heaven. I won’t leave out the possibility that one of these three definitions is the way you were using the word. However, you could have been using the word damned extraneously. In which case we can dismiss the word and focus on the meaning of the statement assuming damned is more of a buzz word in the statement than a word carrying any definite meaning. So, let us examine the statement “I don’t know a thing.” Further analysis shows that the likely meaning of the statement is really “I don’t know anything”, which does in fact carry different meaning than the former statement. How so? Because a could be referring to one particular thing, so all that would be said is that there is at least one thing that I don’t know. Anyone would be willing to make that statement except God.

So, what does the statement “I don’t know anything” amount to? Using a standard dictionary one finds that the word know means: “to perceive directly : have direct cognition of” or “to be aware of the truth or factuality of.”

So, either the person claiming to not to know anything is saying that he has no perception or that he isn’t aware that anything is true. We can surmise that the latter is what is being claimed to be true. Once again, as with the statement “I know that I know nothing” a statement that cannot possibly be true is being stated. He is stating that it is true that he isn’t aware of any truth.

What is a possible motivations for claiming to not be aware of any truth? Well, one can avoid being proved to be holding something true which isn’t.

Perhaps someone would like to revise his or her statement to this: “I know one thing: that I don’t know anything besides knowing that I don’t know anything besides this one exception.”

Why would the Holy Spirit inspire anyone to think such a thing? He wouldn’t.

Now a quote from Proverbs 2:5-8

“Then will you understand the fear of the Lord: the knowledge of God you will find; For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and uderstanding; He has counsel in store for the upright, he is the shield of those who walk honestly, Guarding the paths of justice, protecting the way of his pious ones.”
 
The_Exodus said:
The other day I had an epiphany, which was this:

I don’t know a damn thing.
Click to expand...
Congratulations! You may have arrived at the threshold of Spirituality!

@odhiambo: Thanks; That old liar is one of my favorites! He has lit my backside many times.
 
The_Exodus said:
The other day I had an epiphany, which was this:

I don’t know a damn thing.
Click to expand...
wait until you have teenagers, you will be surprised how much more you don’t know then, than you don’t know now.
 
puzzleannie said:
wait until you have teenagers, you will be surprised how much more you don’t know then, than you don’t know now.
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How true that is…but…wait until your children have children! Amazing how their eyes are then opened when they find out that you may have really known something afterall! 😃

Kind of fun to sit back and just enjoy! You see, God does really have a sense of humor!!
 
JulieAA said:
How true that is…but…wait until your children have children! Amazing how their eyes are then opened when they find out that you may have really known something afterall! 😃

Kind of fun to sit back and just enjoy! You see, God does really have a sense of humor!!
Click to expand...
“When I was fourteen my father didn’t know anything. When I was twentyone, I was surprised at how much he had learned in only seven years!”

Mark Twain
 
The_Exodus said:
The other day I had an epiphany, which was this:

I don’t know a damn thing.
Click to expand...
Socrates Is Most Certainly Out There Somewhere Nodding Sagely Right Now As We Speak-----Welcome To The Wonders Of Philosophy. 👍
 
Of course, to make the claim “I don’t know a damned thing,” it is necessary to know several things:
  1. That there are things to be known
  2. That you do not know any things to be known
  3. That you know how to write the language you are writing the sentence in
Of course, it would be trivial to demonstrate that you know lots of things: you know your own name, you know that you are on a planet in the Milky Way galaxy, you know the country that you live in, you (probably) know the names of the people who hold important positions in the country in which you reside, you know how to speak the local language, you know how to read…

I could go on and on, but the obvious point is that you know lots of things. In fact, the human race knows plenty of things.

Now, if all you mean is that there’s a lot you don’t know (because there is so much to be known) – then first of all, say that – but second of all, that’s not just the beginning of wisdom: that’s the beginning of seeing the bleeding obvious.
 
ADouglass said:
Here’s what I know: the statement “I know that I know nothing” cannot possibly be true. Why? Because in the statement is a claim to know something. Of course, we get the point. You perhaps don’t even know the definition of knowledge. Or if you do, you are being deceitful.

What about the statement “I don’t know a damned thing” ? What is a damned thing? Damned: held back; made unable to make progress; kept away from heaven. I won’t leave out the possibility that one of these three definitions is the way you were using the word. However, you could have been using the word damned extraneously. In which case we can dismiss the word and focus on the meaning of the statement assuming damned is more of a buzz word in the statement than a word carrying any definite meaning. So, let us examine the statement “I don’t know a thing.” Further analysis shows that the likely meaning of the statement is really “I don’t know anything”, which does in fact carry different meaning than the former statement. How so? Because a could be referring to one particular thing, so all that would be said is that there is at least one thing that I don’t know. Anyone would be willing to make that statement except God.

So, what does the statement “I don’t know anything” amount to? Using a standard dictionary one finds that the word know means: “to perceive directly : have direct cognition of” or “to be aware of the truth or factuality of.”

So, either the person claiming to not to know anything is saying that he has no perception or that he isn’t aware that anything is true. We can surmise that the latter is what is being claimed to be true. Once again, as with the statement “I know that I know nothing” a statement that cannot possibly be true is being stated. He is stating that it is true that he isn’t aware of any truth.

What is a possible motivations for claiming to not be aware of any truth? Well, one can avoid being proved to be holding something true which isn’t.

Perhaps someone would like to revise his or her statement to this: “I know one thing: that I don’t know anything besides knowing that I don’t know anything besides this one exception.”

Why would the Holy Spirit inspire anyone to think such a thing? He wouldn’t.

Now a quote from Proverbs 2:5-8

“Then will you understand the fear of the Lord: the knowledge of God you will find; For the Lord gives wisdom, from his mouth come knowledge and uderstanding; He has counsel in store for the upright, he is the shield of those who walk honestly, Guarding the paths of justice, protecting the way of his pious ones.”
Click to expand...
Either that, or the person saying “I don’t know anything” is speaking idiomatically, showing that compared to all that there is to be known, he basically knows nothing. How much do you know of the person’s motivations? You claim to know a lot, but perhaps it would be helpful to concede a similar lack of knowledge 😛

-ACEGC
 
atheistgirl said:
It was wrong of me to laugh, I know, Im a bad person 😊

:D:D:D

Sarah x 🙂
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We weren’t supposed to laugh? I actually liked AT’s post. “I know that I know nothing” was never anything I really focused on anyway.
 
edward_george said:
Either that, or the person saying “I don’t know anything” is speaking idiomatically, showing that compared to all that there is to be known, he basically knows nothing. How much do you know of the person’s motivations? You claim to know a lot, but perhaps it would be helpful to concede a similar lack of knowledge
Click to expand...
Or it was a realization from perceiving a standpoint from beyond the rational mind where mystics go. Knowledge in that realm is qualitatively different than intellectual or emotional information, which, unfortunately is what most faith is based on, as far as I can see.
 
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