Which one are you?

He who knows not and knows not that he knows not is a fool; avoid him.
He who knows not and knows that he knows not is a student; teach him.
He who knows and knows not that he knows is asleep; wake him.
He who knows and knows that he knows is a wise man; follow him.

I'm mostly the second, with one thrown it at times.

 

You either know or you don't.....

you know?

The rest is just really lumpy gravy...

 

The third.

And I once knew a very skilled orator, who recited this quote at slightly above average talking speed, and said it only once through, and didn't elaborate at all, but was so effective that I not only caught the whole thing, but understood it's meaning entirely. The quote was new to me at the time.

 

But Socrates said something to the effect that a truely wise person knows that he knows very little.

 

Socrates was correct that in the grand scheme a wise man knows little. The proverb is also correct, but on a smaller scale.

 

I wanted to say 2,3 and 4 (couldn't decide), which means I'm probably 1.

 

Teach me.

 

*Glances at his signature*

Under those terms, I'm a student and will remain so until I die.

 

how could you know that you know not that you know?

 

I was waiting for someone to notice that. No one can answer 1 or 3, only 2 and 4.

 

Gravy...

 

I feel smarter for being in this thread.

 

Thank you roo, I'm glad that my brilliance is rubbing off on people.

 

This is arguably one of the most plausible (and logical) things to be.

Take, for instance, the guy without a high school diploma, working at McDonald's, flipping hamburgers for a living. I would bet he knows, in his heart of hearts, that he is probably capable of much more than that. However, does he necessarily know what better thing he could be doing? No. He hasn't spent a lot of time in school, so he may have an undiscovered talent in art, or music, or science, or math, or literary analysis, and never know it, because he hasn't had an upportunity to realize his full potential. However, he can very easily realized that he's not done so yet.

Or for, instance, go on a really slow jog. Can you go faster? Yes, obviously. Do you know how much faster you can go at a sustainable pace? Not necessarily. Therefore, you are capable of some certain speed, but you don't know what that speed is.

The meaning of this verse is quite clearly that a person has some untapped potential. Thus, the "wake him." And I think you'll agree it's quite easy to recognize untapped potential and yet not be sure what it is you can truly do. For instance, do you really think most shy and or insecure people don't realize they are shy or insecure? I would bet they do, and just can't get beyond it. That's what at the heart of this thing.

 

The further one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows



George

 

Explain the meaning of this thing.

And is that rose for Roper? He didn't even post in this thread.

 

I'm the one who thinks this is all a bunch of bull****.

 

The further one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

In science when a discovery is made it generates even more questions than what one has started with. Perhaps not the exact meaning the author placed on this, but that's what I get out of it.

 

I'm going to assume that the answer is yes.

 

After re-reading, I agree it isn't possible to answer 1 or 3 because then you would know.

You might like to think you are #3, but in reality that just isn't possible. I think there are only #1 and #2's in the world, because there will always be something you don't know. Only God could be #4. I like to think I am #2.

 

I'm a fool and a damn n00b. Don't bother with me.

 

Student. Always the student.

Warrior_of_Mandalore Strikes Again!

 

that is a lot of words, but you still can't know what you - by definition - don't know.

 

Exactly. Exactly my point.

You see, knowing what you don't know you know is not only impossible, but wholly irrelevant to the proverb.

The proverb states "he that knows, and knows not that he knows."

So long as I do not know the specifics of what I know, I qualify as "knowing not that I know."

Whereas, if I should ever become aware of my own under-utilization I would therefore be conscious of the fact "that I know not that I know."

Since the two are not mutually exclusive, condition 3 is not impossible. One implies a wholly different level of knowledge than the other.

For another simple example: There are people who get treatment for test anxiety. They will be very worried about a test or evaluation, even though they do fine (or perhaps excellent) on it.

1. Now, for them to do fine, they obviously had to know the material being tested. (Knows).

2. For them to feel anxious, they must not have felt that they knew everything they actually did. (Knows not that he knows.)

3. For them to get treatment for test anxiety, they must recognize their anxiety as irrational. In other words, they know that they know more than they believe they do. (Successful self-identification as a Type 3. Is aware that they "Know not that they know.")

 

Sleeping student. But I'll kill you if you wake me up.