Never understood why some people consider ‘I don’t know’ such an inadequate answer.
As Plato said, paraphrasing, “All we really know is the extent of our own ignorance”.
> Never understood why some people consider ‘I don’t know’
> such an inadequate answer.
The problem isn’t that Nye said I don’t know to some things he cannot know, but that he speaks authoritatively about other things that he also cannot possibly know.
“Never understood why some people consider ‘I don’t know’ such an inadequate answer.”
I think it’s the perfect answer!
I’ve been kicking up dust on this rock for 64 years, I’ve seen what everybody else has seen and have come to a conclusion. Theres not one person walks this rock that knows any more about God than I do, how could they? And I know no more about God than anybody else! I don’t know is a perfectly acceptable answer.
And Socrates: “The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing”
OK, I'll give this one a shot. How can you act if "you don't know?" So ignorance is not a basis for action. You need a starting point. This is what makes believers out of all of us. Anything else is less than human.