Epistemology – How Do You Know What You Know?

12-14-21

Episode Transcription

Made for robots, by robots. Only read if you're weird.

Hey Man, what's up, Oh, have you ever heard of? Oh, oh, I don't know. Okay, have I ever heard what epistemology come on dude? This is what you want to do, what his tomology have you ever heard of it? What is it a sounds? Dumb, a Piso Ology, it's well! I want to know what do you o? What is it? What is it? What is it o histology us? I tell you, I'm a I'm a pissed off that you did this for our hundred. No, this makes sense. This makes sense. Is it the study of a heart? I don't know it's a study of one hundred. What is a pistole? No, I think it I figured. It makes sense for a hundred episode because of pistol is the study of knowledge and how the nature of no one is to dictionary, defines a Pisto Ology as the study of what is this a freaking middle school presentation? No, okay! So here's the thing epistemology we're really doing it about a pistole. Yes, okay! Oh my Gosh! So pistol. It's an interesting thing, because, basically the idea is it's. Your topics have just been so cerebral. What do you mean just like Satan, we're gonna go through this satis store Santa Claus, they're, not fun any more Sana Claus. Santa Crass is next week's episode. We have not done that yet! Yes, we have. This is, are you sure a hundred percent well next week done it next week to learn about sit? How do you not you your Satan, you next week, her years Santa I'm saying is like it's all just like you know in the fourth century, what you want to do. Another L is tomology yeah, okay. Well, I will do some fun stuff. I find another one. This will be fun: Okay, Jones, Sol and MI. The are the gifts that is God. I learned about learning for a bit o a power for no rich. What, if I'm just like mad up in your head, it's possible- I don't think we're real may be. This is no to this is real. This is real. Can you justify t, prove it things so use the thing. PISMA is interesting because, basically it's where a lot of skepticism comes from He. This is the stuff you want to go at, you ill be like well. Actually, this is where the conspirations- no it's nothin no o is like skepticism is actually the opposite of like learning stuff, it's all just like critical race theory. No, not talking about like do she a modern conspiracy, theory sceptics. We saying just teach me about like weird happenings all right now, a L. I do a lot about alien, so why you can't you can't really a you about weird stuff and then leave out most of the weird stuff on those weird things all weird things I tete so many things and I'm like. Please teach you about this and you're like now. You know the showeth I got. I really want to teach you about and it's a Pisto ology have you ever heard of it. So basically, and it's just like Bro, what are we? The freaking encyclopedia? Are I'm trying to get us an NPR sponsorship, I'm not by being more rings. Do so my things interesting, here's a thing! Here's all right! Let me let me tell you the thing I want to know. It's interesting. Yeah: here's where this ties in I think this Tisingol, because I started so start like Georgia guide stones, Bob Ross Block bluster. That was cool, the three identical strangers. You know just so much stuff, and then you jus go you just gotten like Satan. I've done to two of these now. If it just makes sense, this makes it. Let me tell you why this makes sense. Okay, we're gonna, have a fight on the podcast for a hundred. The peso this makes is honestly, is a tists pretty much it. I don't know if you picked up on this, but let me tell you about things on and last night, I don't know he's the thing we live in the information age. It was ironic about the information age is all the passion all the informations aged and all of us are so stupid, we're all just so so dumb. That's absolutely true and everybody talks about how they know they act at the the expert on everything and when they really they know nothing. They're, the expert on nothing and one of the most interesting things from my degree will use my degree for a second hare. Are you going to talk about how I ever won how the disappearance of experts like people resent experts? I think you think yeah pace the same way of like sixteen year olds. Next, eighteen year olds go off as freshman in college and they start arguing with their professor and it's like you're, going to argue with the person who's got. You know your entire life's worth of studying in that specific topic, because you read something on the Internet. I think that's the thing is: Is People think that they know a ton and that I honestly that was the most valuable thing I think I learned in college, like interaction classroom was the second you think you know a lot about something. Is the moment you really don't to you that long to realize you're stupid. I knew day one. You know that was the most valuable thing you learned of angel was that people think you're dumb. My professor. It took nineteen papers of my professor riding on both your tongue. You should start with Google epistemology start there. He literally said Stop Paying, for this is not worth it for you. You were dumb out all my papers, it just the night and artist was rough on both of us. That's who she wrote in mind too. That is aggressive, so here's the thing our show is really kind of a play on that, because I don't know what I'm talking about ever play on that. Come I don't know. What I'm ever talking about show really is is a definition. Inert Age, you know the information age when you really boil it down is just things I learned last night. This is something I research on the Internet last night and I'm acting like I'm an expert on that's what we do. Every single episode. Okay, it's a joke. It's a comedy, podcast. The things you've learned on this show are not valuable. You don't know what that yeah, because I don't yeah about them and so a pistol is the study of is really. The question is asked the question: How do you know the things that you know and when you think about that? What are you in college pretty quickly learning about what learning? No, I already asked that yeah yeah. No, I'm learning about learning what just learning about what are you learning about it? Oh, that I don't learn a lot earning about learning. I'm learning that I haven't learned to hold on a second. If a pistole is learning about learning, yeah and I'm right now, learning about a pistole. Am I learning about learning about learning age? But yes, okay, Mrs I'm, Minister, now there you go great, teach me Oh master of stuff, so it's asking the question: How do we actually know that for your hand or your knock over one of our wise men, the a knock over yeah? Okay? So one of our epistemologists? The question is: How do you know the things that you actually know yeah and you realize pretty quick if you really dig into that you like crap, I don't know a single thing. So let's do that. You don't know yeah it's based on knowledge of someone else. Well, that's just where it begins. Oh, no! So there's a there's! There's really these three kind of pillars of a pistol y. We have to set up to begin with their belief, truth and justification, and they sound a lot like what their names are, because it's a good name believe is just the things that you believe in belief. Yes, so a lot of times. These are religious police, political beliefs. Things like that truth is something that can be believed in, but is also true. So these are facts. Actual factual and truth doesn't care about your feelings. I've heard I've heard yeah and then the last one this guy justification also Mur is the short hand name for I got it. So we got Joe saw and Mur. Those are the gifts, a Jesus God very in practical. You know this is quality contort home, so so justification justification are things that prove that the things that are true are worthy of belief, so this is reasoningi kind, O get more evidence: okay, okay, okay, okay, so, for example, these have to do a dance all together, yeah for you to know, you know something. So here's a really famous example say you were to say: I believe it's raining outside. I believe it's raining outside that doesn't mean that it is or a true that doesn't mean it's truth. No, the only thing you have to justify that truth by walking outside and getting wet yeah, but here's the thing here's what's interesting about this is, if you believe it and you're. Confident in that belief and you walk outside and it was raining. It was a true belief, but you didn't believe that, because you had a justification, you believe that for really no reason you were just confident in that belief and that it has happened to be riches happened to be true. Yes, it's like another example is, if you, if you believe it's new, if you believe it's awaken, are falling over over here and you believe it's to Eco, we believe it tol ocock, you walk into a room, you see a clock that is on twelve o'clock. It was a true belief, but you believe that before you had justification for it, okay but say you believed that you walked into the room. It was two o'clock. Well, you walked in the room. You said, I believe it's it's twelve o'clock. You saw the clock. That said it was twelve o'clock. He said. Okay, now I have a justified belief and it's true. I have what's a justified. True belief is the way they phrase it in epistemology. You could still that justification, though, might not be true, because that clock could be stuck on the number twelve and you just happen to see me. You walk in the rooms began like I believe, it's twelve, you know you're walking and you go. I believe it's to thirty and that clock just happens to say on thirty, the bat puts out of battery someone's like well. Actually it's four o'clock yeah so so truth does not reconcile with your justification or belief. Yeah it you so belief. Justification could both agree and truth, not truth, but truth and belief can't agree without justification. No because you because it could be rinning outside. You could be confident in your belief that it's raining and it could actually be raining, but you don't have the justification, so you could have a true belief. That's not justified! You could have a justification for a true for truth that you don't believe you can also have a belief. That is not true and it's not justified and you could also have a belief that is justified, but isn't true. So just like the clock, that's on noon, it's justified because you see a clock. This is as new, but it's two thirty. So that's a belief, that's justified, but it's false, okay, and so basically what what you're looking at that's called the gettier problem. It's all these justifications and the beliefs and the truth. It forms this ven diagram where you need it to overlap and be true, keep it that back er but knock it over. You need the truth and the justification to over that, but you also need your beliefs to overlap that and that's how you get knowledge when you have that happy little center in the medium, you have the knowledge knowledge. Yes, yes, knowledge is when you have a justifies Lou. That is true. Oh you have power and that's how you get power and power is money and money is power and money is greed. What are you learning to college power? I learned about learning for a bit. It made me powerful and now I'm rich talking to the clerk of the gas teachin about it. Can I buy some muscle I walking. I believe it is two D and thirty, and I have twenty on pum seven, please the guys, like it's noon, do you have desiccation for that belief? Oh Gosh. I that's exactly how Le Talk, though man. I bet those college classes all right night mayor to be in Oh yeah, they're, exhausting! Oh! I do you have a justification for that belief. There's a lot of philosophers who have come up with scenarios. The clock was one: The rain was one. The get of your problem with the Vin Diagram is a way to think through that. So there's a lot of problems and scenarios and ways to exemplify this idea. Sure that have come out over the Millennia, but the the basic concept is this. Is You can believe in something and be confident you believe in it? You can honestly have proof in your belief in it, but that doesn't make it true, and so I pretty common honestly think about everything you know right now take a moment close your eyes, breathe them through your nose. Okay, bree, that through your mouth and think about all the things you know every single thing you know think about it. Do you know that you know that thing m? Do you know the answer? Is No sorry sorry, so I guess I don't know that yeah, you don't know. I sure thought I did at all the things you know you don't know those things, because here's the thing why I believe that I do it doesn't matter. If people ave you do you can be yeah. I heard that's not true. So so I believe that I do know everything yeah, that's a Bo, and that is a truth. No, no! It's not do you have a just ICATION for that boom fiddle it off. You just learn a pistole, that's what they named it that because it pisses people off when you argue about it, have you or a love one been diagnosed with too many advertisements during the till in podcast? Have we got good news for you, our patrons, enjoy, add free experience and to get early access to content behind the scene, stuff, exclusive merchandise and access to a private discord channel? We we all are in it our producers and the hosts. So if you'd like to be a patron today and solve that problem, why don't you text till in to six D, Sixty eight six, six! So here's the thing: Let's pick something an Arnica. Okay, do you believe the AASE? So you believe in an article. That's great blue man, Orgar, that's okay, good to know where you're at good. To that here's! The thing why? Because I've been there but yeah, I been shut up yeah. I went on a mitre and the shot snow people yeah well to the elms. That episode doesn't come out yet you're called a thing. That's happened yet that's to make sense of yeah. I knew that Oh yeah that'll be just I know when the episodes come out, I'm justified, so I do believe in in Arica yeah. Why? What's your just if Crepin the believe on a mission trip when living water fellowship church is a summer trip which is emertine yeah, I like it's too hot and humid in Missouri. Let's go go verita dry, so I went there right. This is my Justicie Yeah Southwest Airlines Southwest Yeah Bailey leaves the US but also anarchy, okay, Great Yep and didn't land open the door you out took off our clip on ties and threw us out. That was a DB cooper call. I threw us into the Antartic to the anarctic with all your money, so here's the thing. Well, that could be true. You could have went to an Arica, but I didn't did you know his lie? Sometimes sometimes I do this thing where I just make stuff up to see. If you could believe it, I'm gonna tell you, I didn't believe it A. I was Gongor saying that, because I've, never, I don't have tangible justification for be. You have a testimony. You have someone else's testament, sure and the reality of it is you O, O o landing? Do I believe in the moon kind of because here's the thing honestly you it doesn't have to be something like the moon landing. You can go down to pretty much everything. You know you were taught by someone, and so you were given their test. Okay, I'll tell you why I believe in the Arica, then, is because I believe in maps. The reason I believe in maps is that so far, the places that I have gone to on a map have been correct. Yeah. So that's fair, that's fair! The issue with that is it is, I don't know we're talking on to somebody. I don't even believe in planes on so the issue is loolie as real. The issue is so you have evidence that maps are real, so you can trust the testimony of the map, which means okay. I I'll trust the testimony of the entire map. You don't have evidence that the entire map is sure you just have evidence of the map that I mean we, you wreak all that stuff. Do I mean, like all that's the point of the pesonal Gy, is saying that until you experience something- and you have the evidence yourself, so your experience is the definition of reality. So I have disagreements on that. Not Necessarily so here's the thing. If you have testimony from someone who is able to show their evidence and give like a clear proof of their evidence, then you you serve to believe there. You deserve to believe their testimony. So then I believe the experience of people who have been to an AMICA- yes, yeah, that's fair, but the reality is is most of us. The testimonies were receiving is not first hand testimony it's not even second or third, it's like way down the line of this person went went and then they wrote about it or they talked about it or whatever, and someone wrote about it and that ended up our text. Books are taught our teachers who taught us you're down a telephone line of experiencers or really testimony or or testimonial Ers Testament, testament and the experiencer. So does that? Are you suggesting then, that the knowledge is not worth believing any more? No, I don't know anyone who's falling off a ten story building, but I know that that would kill you well do you, though, the question of a pistole is: Do you know, because you have evidence that every time that you've had testimony of that happening, it's resulted in death sure, but could it be you you don't have a way to prove that that's a guarantee. You just have a way to prove that at least every time that you have evidence of that. It's repeated that way. Theoretically, that could be a part of a pattern where a hundred times someone dies, but a hundred on the hundred first time. Every time someone survives you can't say so what a pistol Gy is doing is saying at the end of the day, you can have a lot of evidence for something, and you can say you can't believe anything unless you've experienced it. No, no, not exactly it's saying that. It's saying that it's very, very, very tough to know you know something for sure is kind of is what they're saying they're saying you can know that happens most of the time, or that happens a lot or that's happened every time you see. You believe that I like being around you, I can say Maga, true he's what I could say. Yes, I can say I know that at least eighty percent of the time you seem to enjoy when we're hanging out seem to enjoy it, but that doesn't mean yeah that you do a hundred percent the time I'm acting, but yeah there's twenty percent of the time where you don't seem to enjoy it, it's a pretty good. That's that's fair! That's accurate one of five makes sense. All the pesonal is saying is your evidence. Is it's very hard to find testimony or evidence that can conclusively prove a hundred percent of the time that you know what's going on in that situation? It could say you have evidence that it happened this way before you have evidence that so times it goes this way, but you is very, very tough to say this is how it's always affinitive, yeah, okay, and that's why science so many times will when experimenting, try to make something clear and repeatable, because you want to say okay, this continues to happen. It wasn't just a one off, it wasn't just a fluke. It wasn't just that one time it happens. Often, okay, the scientific method is age, but the epistolis would say well what? If what? If that was you just did it enough times for it to repeat? If you did it one more time, you don't know that that's going to you're going to get the same, resoling yeah, that's just poking holes and you could pull calls and stuff all day. Yeah I mean is appointed. It is poking holes and stuff, though kind of I mean yeah, it's basically say you could always do that. It's basically it's skepticism. So it's saying you it's very, very, very hard for you to clusive say I know that what I know is true: What is it hard? It's very, very T. is it difficult? Yes, you don't know that. That's fair, pretty easy for me to do. I hate you. You are, but it's but you're a but is accurate. Let's look it. Let's look at y what you're doing right now, it's good, but I don't like it here. You brought this up a second ago. I want to dive into it Gosh. This is called the cart, Cartesian, evil, demon problem, it's a theory from Rene de Cart. That's one of my favorites because you mentioned you said: Renee Cart! Yes yeah! I thought that was is a term in a restaurant. Whenever you just want the entree now can I have the fish run at a card? Pasaen, it's actually a worship artist. Oh I've actually got a since yet a car yeah. No, he he talked about you just you said you only know something's true. If you experience it and what he said is no you don't because what he says he said you can't prove that your experiences are true either, and so he created this theory hold on what so he created this theory. He said we can't prove that what we're experiencing is universal, yes, but also more than that, just like you real. He said he said I could be, and he created this ridiculous scenario o not because he believed it, but to ilustrate point he said I could be strapped into a chair being fed at this experience by demon. Who is able to give me all these sensations. Give me all these perceptions and make my mind believe I'm in this world that I'm not when the reality is totally different, yeah and then someone out of the s like this, a really good movie, that's actually exactly when they got the Atamor Sense, and so I r the car was like you know I could be somewhere ordering a entree of chicken Renata, cart right and I in my head I could be like this is what chicken tastes like yeah. I don't know that yeah, that's exactly what I said. You can't trust. Anything is what the philosophy is. Yeah he's like he's. A your experience is a could be all entirely wrong everything you know sure everything experience could be wrong. So then you can't know for sure that any of this is reality. You just know that it's your experience currently of reality, which doesn't as true what, if I'm just like, made up in your head, it's possible that just blew our mind. Here's the thing! If you did really deep into this yeah, it becomes kind of tough to say you know anything because you either have to try, drive yourself insane doing that thing. T YEAH! You either had to trust somebody before you and be like. I trust that what you taught me is true right or what you you should do, or your wisdom is or you have to go experience, everything which is what a people in our culture are trying to do and both of those both of those are tough because one, if you trust everybody who teaches you someone's going to have it wrong, you sure learn some stuff that are wrong yeah and then also, if you go try to experience everything you can go crazy because you can't, and if you're the cart you could Bo if you're the car, but you o Ben Saying I can't trust my even if you experience it, you still could be wrong yeah, he saying even if you yeah o you cunjee already got enough anxiety. We don't got to put this one okay, but this is what social media saying is that, like? How do you know you know you don't know what the only way to to know is to experience everything yeah. You know I got to try everything exactly. It's gonna, try everything yeah and it's like. We want to try everything. Actually, you don't you don't and I think that's a we live in a very sceptical culture. That says I don't want to trust anything. Anybody says I don't want to trust authority on. Did you read teacher? What was the example? Where was that the island that the when the tsunami happened? They only had like seven deaths? I er, which book that was in. Do you now talk about very analogy her even an analogy with a real thing of like this unami killed thousands of people yeah, but on this one island in only killed seven, because you know they've passed down this wisdom for for generations, even though they've never had they haven't had a sunamite re. There was an earthquake yeah and they've been told this children's story, their entire lives that, when the ground shakes retreat to the mountains yeah you know and when the tide recedes go to the mountains yeah and they only lost seven people, because they, because, even though they had never experienced it before they had wisdom that they learned from yeah that they went to the mountains and they all sort out survived interesting, very interesting yeah. I think that's. I think that is a very good illustration for this, because we have a tendency in our culture today be skeptical of anybody who came before us. Anybody in kind of any kind of leadership, because the ACIS is what's leading right now is that enough things have panned out to be, and this will in maybe this is maybe our podcast helps feel. That is the number of stuff that you go. Oh, that's not what it seemed to be, or Oh, that was that turned out to be malicious yeah. You know then does feed those like well do we know for sure yeah exactly and I mean and that's the, but I don't think that people who ask questions like that should be the ones leading because that's what it that's where I'm getting annoyed is it's like just people all the guys do to be a thinker or to be intellectual, is Hube like well what? If what? If this is whatever you know, and it's said well, we should elect that guy then you're like no do not put that person in charge at all, and I think that will make that guy. Your Pastor, Hey, have you er heard of till in podcast March. That's right: We've got a full march store of tilling branded, teas mugs stickers, hoodies a lot more and we put out new designs with every episode, but those are only available for a limited time. So you got to get those wither hot text, tillandsia eight six, six to get access to our exclusive merchandise. I think that's where a pistol gy differs from like modern scepticism, cause monospecific, asking questions and really poking. I really was elegy is saying: can you justify the beliefs, and can you prove your belief? A true, and a lot of them is a like trusting this map. I can prove that this part of the map is true, which gives me reason to believe this part of the map. Exactly and a lot of seers of pisonous will go really far down that gravital to try to find an issue in it because they're going really far down that rabbit hold to try to see. Is this justified and I actually believe this, but you can drive yourself mad doing that, because, at the end of the day, you're always going to find a whole way. You're like well, I don't know for sure sure in that spot and so at the end of the day, at the end of the day, Howat might not be real, then the where it comes down to there has to come a moment where you say your choice to either keep trying to follow it and figure out the reason or just order to say I haven't the most disgusting fatty food. You can cause. You draw your body because you're not real. Nothing to do matters. You don't exist, eat whatever you want. Speaking of this week's host is our host art. This week's sponsor is now it's not but tribe, kitchen, yeah real mark. There got a brunch thing: it's like the Nashville, hot chicken business and Gravy, and it's I mean, got to be four or five sand, calories right, yeah, so yeah. How do you know because I've justified that experience? I believe that it's good. I have tasted that it's good. Therefore, it is good. Now there could be a demon. They're could be she a convention me that it's bit this is really good chicken. Is it? No that's true, he's just shoving a rod chicken down and for whatever reason, the de Iratis as well as that. What I think is we, I think, a lot there's no way that is all made up in my head, because I would looking around and I go there's no way. I would put myself through this stuff. That's what Covin really brought me to was like in my head. It's like if this is all in my head. I D have a better life. I'm serious! You know what have done better. You know maybe we're all in cones. Had I don't know they were all in like bill gate. They Elon Musk said, I don't know, maybe we're all in those people's had yeah. You know, but there's no way, we're in mind. There's no way, there's no way that you listening in your two thousand and three Chrysler minivan driving right now, your mourning commute to a job that you don't like. I really hope I'm re to real fell due. I hope somebody's listening right now and they're like what I'm gonna walk in the OFFICII quit they walk in with tears in their eyes, because they've cried in the parking lot they're like, I don't think, I'm real real. This is real. I'm going back to my cristine have to break up it's like. Oh, are you going to try to pull like this whole? God tell me to break up with you, it's like! No, I don't think we're real. What do you mean? This is. No though this is real is real, but can you justify that prove it, but it really is it's. This is where a lot of a lot of these I mean Sert comes from this because you have art, you have a history of in the reality, people who are at the top of the total pol get to decide what's TAT, and sometimes they leave out some stuff yeah and it's important to go back and learn what that stuff is. That has like so I mean there's not the same thing is happening with theology, yet tons of stuff, that's like, and I think, there's value in questioning and looking at the things that you've learned sure, especially when it comes to a world view yeah, you know, but does that mean that we have to to use a word deconstruct every part of our being yeah yeah? No, so no, I think I think, my honestly, why I wanted to bring this up. Is it is such a? I think it really is an issue today where people don't trust a lot of people, but at the same time they put too much trust in a lot of other things. Just because you watch a youtube videos or read opposed on social or honestly, with with everything we learned here, the things you learn in school there's a chance that those things are not justified. Tug beliefs, yeah, you might believe them, but just because one thing you- and this is the other thing too- is that just because this system taught you something that wasn't true doesn't mean everything the system tie. You wasn't true, absolutely true, yeah someone, one person could have done something really bad or said something that was false, that doesn't it's like throwing the demon out with the chair, you're strapped to you know, and that's I. It doesn't disqualify everything they said, but at the same time, just because you listen to one thing that talked about something doesn't mean you're an expert on it and it was it all the podcast and less it's our podcast, in which case you're, not even real, so you're made up in Tim's head really to me this by cast a big part of this podcast. Is I your h? Why is this show not more successful, but I I I a hundred episodes in and like we have with decent listener ship, but it's like Bro. You could do something about you make this way home some Sarah tone into our show. It's because the devil is right again and he wants it to be like yeah. It's just don't say the Devil's writing or shows like that. Like that yeah we give them our souls in a solo cup a few episodes ago. He also stole the end of your sentences. So all right, so that's why you brought it up was like listen. Things are fine yeah like I think I think the point is, if you're going to believe in a time timannee with. I think the point is it's just that you know it's a great episode. I think the point is, if you believe something more, if you, if you watch a video or a podcast or whatever, like sure the person, you listen to, might know what they're talking about, but don't take their word for it like if you want to really believe in that, go find another testimony or find other evidence justify that belief before you go out saying. Oh, this is the way the world works. That's a basically crazy conspiracy. It's the same thing of like this is a good example. Yeah all right give it to me. I know where you're calling you don't know where I'm going. I think I do if you're bind someone Amazon and it's got five star reviews, but it's only got three people who said that I don't trust those refuse, but if it's got four point, eight star reviews- and it's got like thirteen thousand reviews- trust it. I trust that was actually a really good example. That's a great example, because there's a bigger sample size yeah so, but unfortunately, right now were I why that guy, who had almost mice had a ton of them? You know I need more, an more mice, I need more. I need to prove it and it's a show. It's repeatable, I mean yeah yeah, that's true, that's fair! Your sample size is important. Yeah. You could have ended like that. I think the point is take a bigger sample size take a bigger sample size, but even more than that, it's if you, Google, something you can find. Whatever answer you want. That's true. That's true that, just mostly because Tim spins his day, writing like ten articles about the same thing with just different vehicles. You know you can find any of in Yo was yeah. You know every single tilling subject: There's a a very on Amoros lying Lani Zamor is correct lines on more was lying, but that doesn't mean every alien stories were on bally and thor is the close of the show. You know, there's a you can find an opinion on everything everything find what you want to believe and you can google it and you're going to find some high sport. I see we stop doing that. It's making everybody really mad on twitter. That's why everyone's blocking last proriger yeah anyways, she's wisdom, you some wisdom, you some wisdom, realize you probably don't know as much as you know, and that's: okay, it's okay to believe in something, even if you can't prove it, but don't be weird about it unless you have to. Unless you have your weird about it, also you're not real anyway. This has been a hundred episodes of our show. Thank you for listening to it, thanks for being here so offereth ngs are on that night is a production of space. Tim Media produced by Christian Taylor, audio by Ous, Garnett video by Conteret are graphics and or logo by Kaleb, but Goldberg and our social media is run by Calabar. Our host, our JERN myres and Tim Stone falls on your favorite social media platform at Tillin. PODCAST is till and podcast remember to tell all your friends about us and we'll see you next Tuesday for another episode of things I have on last night


How do you know what you know? That’s a weird question. It’s an important question to ask, though, and that question is at the heart of epistemology. Briefly, epistemology is a philosophical school of thought that seeks to understand knowledge. At its core, the hope is to determine if evidence can justify our beliefs. The system of thought has birthed all forms of skepticism. Therefore, many have claimed that the system exists to poke holes in ideas and find reasons to deny one’s way of thought. While, in some cases, it is true that people are skeptical for the sake of being skeptical, the thought process provides the foundation on which scholars built the scientific method.

Justified True Beliefs

The three main components of epistemology are justification, truth, and beliefs. When all three work together, they form justified true beliefs. The basic idea at work here is this: whatever you know is a belief; if that belief is also true it is a true belief; if that belief is true and you have a justification for believing it, then it is a justified true belief. So the goal for the epistemologist is to find justified true beliefs.

The Cartesian Evil Demon Problem

One of the best justifications for a belief is experience. If you experience something, you have a strong justification for believing that it is true. However, Rene Descartes argued that you couldn’t trust experiences either. Descartes theorized a hypothetical situation in which you are tied to a chair and fed all your experiences by an evil demon. These experiences encompass the full range of emotions and sensations. However, they are not real. Descartes used this illustration to give an example of why we can’t trust our experiences to justify our beliefs.

Many have come after Descartes to offer new modernized examples of his problem. One of the more famous renditions is the brain in a vat hypothesis. This theory states that for all we know, we could be a brain in a vat that is being fed information to believe we are experiencing all that we know as accurate. This, coupled with Descartes’s original situation, is the basis for the Matrix film.

Philosopher and Epistemologist Rene Descartes portrait
Rene Descartes
Epistemology in the Information Age

The information age has brought an even more critical need for epistemology. The irony of the era in which we live is that all the information in the world is seconds away from us. Yet, ignorance abounds. The issue is that while data is everywhere, good information is difficult to find. All around us, new thought leaders, influencers, podcasters, etc., are introducing new ideas with confidence. If we aren’t careful, these could become ideas that we believe to be true. Therefore, we must always find if our beliefs are true and if we have adequate justification for those beliefs.

Conclusion

At first glance, the effort of epistemology may seem like an unnecessary or even vain effort. However, the thought pattern lends way for more established beliefs and confidence in those beliefs. It can be a laborious process to find justifications for our beliefs. No more than ever, though, we need to embark on the process of justifying our beliefs. The world needs it today.

Things I Learned Last Night is an educational comedy podcast where best friends Jaron Myers and Tim Stone talk about random topics and have fun all along the way. If you like learning, and laughing a whole lot while you do, then you’ll love TILLN. Watch or listen to this episode right now!

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Sources

Epistemology – Wikipedia

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy


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