View Full Version : learning knowledge for the sake of learning knowledge
enjoyur1life
2009-01-04, 03:39
my sister looked at the sky and said "i wonder which one is venus?" i said "well why would you want to know which is venus?"
she says that she wants to know things about her environment, and when asked why, she says she just wants to know things for the sake of knowing things. plants that have NO use, not a single one, even an abstract one, say it exists, she wants to know the name of that plant.
i cannot understand this, and she is so damn adamant about it. and this is important cuz i don't want to talk about completely useless bullshit.
i say "why would you want to know something, like the name of something you are never going to talk, think about, or use it or the name in any way?"
she says she just wants to learn some knowledge for the sake of learning it, and because she can't quantify or explain why, it's just a feeling.
however, as we were walking by a bush, i asked her if she wanted to know if there is a marble under the bush. she said no. so that proves that there is a cutoff point for where she doesn't want to know about something.
i think she's just not thinking about why she would want to know which one is venus.
if she wanted to know how to find direction in the night, that would be the north star; say venus even did help you find direction (like say it is always west), you would search or talk about stars that help you find your direction, NOT about names of stars in the sky, or what the name of a particular star is.
so, WHY would you want to know about something you are sure you are never going to talk or think about, something that you will NEVER be able to use????
(i think we need to have a social revolution/evolution where we stop talking about useless bullshit. no filler, all killer)
So you telling me all my star wars knowledge is useless? Fuck you! :mad:
Crystal Antlers
2009-01-04, 03:51
you can't tell me you've never just wikipedia'd something out of curiosity and then ended up clicking links to other articles, and then OTHER articles.
why do people ask why?
why are you asking your question when it will not help anything except give you knowledge about why your sister does the things she does!??!? why do you want to know that!?
if people never asked questions, where would we be today?
if people never asked questions, where would we be today?
This.
Let your sister wonder, let her learn.
We're in short supply of people who desire to learn.
So... You wanna tap your sister?
I support this entirely.
You need to stifle that shit right now.
I support the dumbed down generations of today.
I support people that read only cosmogirl and US weekly.
I support reality T.V.
I support the kids in my English class that proudly proclaim they don't read books.
You see, it's less competition for me.
{DA}
Crystal Antlers
2009-01-04, 04:12
So... You wanna tap your sister?
yeah....this was another one of my questions
I support this entirely.
You need to stifle that shit right now.
I support the dumbed down generations of today.
I support people that read only cosmogirl and US weekly.
I support reality T.V.
I support the kids in my English class that proudly proclaim they don't read books.
You see, it's less competition for me.
{DA}
So what will you do when you're on top? Burn the whole pile?
zuperxtreme
2009-01-04, 04:56
"Because I choose to".
SLice_760
2009-01-04, 05:11
you can't tell me you've never just wikipedia'd something out of curiosity and then ended up clicking links to other articles, and then OTHER articles.
why do people ask why?
why are you asking your question when it will not help anything except give you knowledge about why your sister does the things she does!??!? why do you want to know that!?
if people never asked questions, where would we be today?
I do this all the time. It's the main reason why I am even a member of this site. I like random knowledge. I visit all the forums here and read threads, even though many times I would not even use the knowledge I learned.
I like knowing things just for the sake of knowing things, it feels good.
You're a horrible brother and a closed-minded person in general. Hopefully your sister meets other creative and low latent-inhibition people like herself and goes on to be successful in life. I feel sorry for her, because that little anecdote is the story of my life.
I support this entirely.
You need to stifle that shit right now.
I support the dumbed down generations of today.
I support people that read only cosmogirl and US weekly.
I support reality T.V.
I support the kids in my English class that proudly proclaim they don't read books.
You see, it's less competition for me.
{DA}
You.
I like you.
my sister looked at the sky and said "i wonder which one is venus?" i said "well why would you want to know which is venus?"
she says that she wants to know things about her environment, and when asked why, she says she just wants to know things for the sake of knowing things. plants that have NO use, not a single one, even an abstract one, say it exists, she wants to know the name of that plant.
i cannot understand this, and she is so damn adamant about it. and this is important cuz i don't want to talk about completely useless bullshit.
i say "why would you want to know something, like the name of something you are never going to talk, think about, or use it or the name in any way?"
she says she just wants to learn some knowledge for the sake of learning it, and because she can't quantify or explain why, it's just a feeling.
however, as we were walking by a bush, i asked her if she wanted to know if there is a marble under the bush. she said no. so that proves that there is a cutoff point for where she doesn't want to know about something.
i think she's just not thinking about why she would want to know which one is venus.
if she wanted to know how to find direction in the night, that would be the north star; say venus even did help you find direction (like say it is always west), you would search or talk about stars that help you find your direction, NOT about names of stars in the sky, or what the name of a particular star is.
so, WHY would you want to know about something you are sure you are never going to talk or think about, something that you will NEVER be able to use????
(i think we need to have a social revolution/evolution where we stop talking about useless bullshit. no filler, all killer)
Maybe it's just sweet to know shit about shit. Honestly the more you know about the world and the stuff in and around it the more useful you're going to be. So what if it doesn't have a foreseeable, practical purpose? I'd be pretty damn impressed if I was with a chick that could tell me which star was which or whatever.
So what will you do when you're on top? Burn the whole pile?
Find John Galt.
{DA}
Find John Galt.
{DA}
Who is John Galt?... Who is John Galt?...
I'm just saying knowledge is a pretty cool dude is all.
Find John Galt.
{DA}
Who is John Galt?... Who is John Galt?...
I'm just saying knowledge is a pretty cool dude in the face of an oppressive world that frowns upon free thought and individualism and applauds BULLSHIT
enjoyur1life
2009-01-04, 09:33
you can't tell me you've never just wikipedia'd something out of curiosity and then ended up clicking links to other articles, and then OTHER articles.
of course i have. i'm all for curiosity and learning, really. there are just some things that i decide not to learn. i would not click a link on wikipedia that says "britney spears" or "which star in the sky is venus". i may even click on the venus page, but i would not click on the "how to find which star in the sky is venus" page. i deem them useless knowledge.
why do people ask why?
asking why is awesome, question everything. but before you read a paragraph, or even a sentence, you ask yourself, or you already know, "do i care about britney spears? or how to find which star in the sky is venus? NO.
why are you asking your question when it will not help anything except give you knowledge about why your sister does the things she does!??!?
it's about the core ideologies concerning what we talk about, what we want to know, and what we don't.
if we started not talking about things we don't care about, that would kick ass. no? all with a simple ideology change.
why do you want to know that!?
see above
if people never asked questions, where would we be today?
nowhere. but it is also relevant as to what they were asking questions about, in their particular situation.
example, if they (early humanity) sat around all day in the caves, talking and thinking about a little fleck of dirt on the wall they named tanzy, they would have died, or been really bored at least. i argue the fleck on the wall is the same as knowing how to find which star in the sky is venus. neither i nor she is into astronomy, or anything to do with the stars, there is no possible reason we could care.
This.
Let your sister wonder, let her learn.
about how to find which star in the sky is venus? my family can't come up with an answer as to why she or i would want to know that, can anyone? if i told you i have a mole of small size on my back, would you care?
We're in short supply of people who desire to learn.
yes, but isn't it also important to not have everyone learning about britney spears' celebrity life? that's a damn waste of a mind and a little bit of their life. add all of the bullshit and time spent talking and thinking about bullshit, and you could destroy almost all potential thinking and learning. balance.
DA, are you saying you don't oppose people who only read cosmogirl or us weekly and the people who don't read books, ect. because it's easier to not oppose them?
i disagree with that to an extent. but especially when it's someone who i talk with often, i don't want to have to listen to bullshit, there is so much potential.
"Because I choose to".
fine. but i will still try to use socratic questioning to get you to see if you really want to think about that, and not only that particular thing, but become more aware of the things you do and don't want to talk or think about.. my gift to you :]
I do this all the time. It's the main reason why I am even a member of this site. I like random knowledge. I visit all the forums here and read threads, even though many times I would not even use the knowledge I learned.
I like knowing things just for the sake of knowing things, it feels good.
me too, but there is also random knowledge that you deem useless, such as britney spears, and how to find venus in the sky. i would not look at pages titled that.
You're a horrible brother and a closed-minded person in general. Hopefully your sister meets other creative and low latent-inhibition people like herself and goes on to be successful in life. I feel sorry for her, because that little anecdote is the story of my life.
im trying to get her to question herself why she would want to talk or think about some things, therefore increasing her quality of life. whenever in a conversation, there are things you decide not to say. like HEY EVERYONE, MY TOE ITCHES. because we don't care if your toe itches.
besides, what the hell does wanting to know which star in the sky is venus have to do with being closeminded or creative?!?
low latent-inhibition (being concious of/unable to ignore things normally ignored) is different than talking about those things.
Maybe it's just sweet to know shit about shit. Honestly the more you know about the world and the stuff in and around it the more useful you're going to be. So what if it doesn't have a foreseeable, practical purpose? I'd be pretty damn impressed if I was with a chick that could tell me which star was which or whatever.
yes, but there are some things that you just don't want to know. do you want to know which star in the sky is venus? what about the name of a barbie doll action figure? britney spears' celebrity updates?
& i would tell her, gently, that i really don't care, lol.
why the fuck would you want to know how to find which star in the sky is venus, people?!
Lockie666
2009-01-04, 09:42
There is one think your sister really needs to learn properly, she uses to much teeth when she's sucking my cock.
LiquidIce
2009-01-04, 10:08
You cannot judge what knowledge is useful and which is not. You don't have that kind of authority.
Why the fuck are you learning calculus or physics if you're gonna spend your life flippin' burgers in a McDonalds? Why the fuck are you learning chemistry or anything?
Because it creates a certain worldview. Why the fuck would you ever wanna know about Jupiter's atmosphere, eh dickwad?
Maybe, because knowing all this useless shit you can judge truth from fallacy? Maybe if she knows which star is Venus no fucking shitface will sell her "Magical Venus Cream".
Why learn about the visible light spectrum? Because we won't have bitches like the one on youtube proclaiming that seeing a rainbow in droplets of water is not normal.
Learning won't hurt her. It builds your overall knowledge of everything about you.
And OP, your a fucking ignorant pussy for criticizing your sis knowledge-greed.
captain_pants
2009-01-04, 10:18
my sister looked at the sky and said "i wonder which one is venus?" i said "well why would you want to know which is venus?"
she says that she wants to know things about her environment, and when asked why, she says she just wants to know things for the sake of knowing things. plants that have NO use, not a single one, even an abstract one, say it exists, she wants to know the name of that plant.
i cannot understand this, and she is so damn adamant about it. and this is important cuz i don't want to talk about completely useless bullshit.
i say "why would you want to know something, like the name of something you are never going to talk, think about, or use it or the name in any way?"
she says she just wants to learn some knowledge for the sake of learning it, and because she can't quantify or explain why, it's just a feeling.
however, as we were walking by a bush, i asked her if she wanted to know if there is a marble under the bush. she said no. so that proves that there is a cutoff point for where she doesn't want to know about something.
i think she's just not thinking about why she would want to know which one is venus.
if she wanted to know how to find direction in the night, that would be the north star; say venus even did help you find direction (like say it is always west), you would search or talk about stars that help you find your direction, NOT about names of stars in the sky, or what the name of a particular star is.
so, WHY would you want to know about something you are sure you are never going to talk or think about, something that you will NEVER be able to use????
(i think we need to have a social revolution/evolution where we stop talking about useless bullshit. no filler, all killer)
*sigh*
Nagasaki911
2009-01-04, 10:37
obviously op has never heard of alex trebek or jeopardy
LiquidIce
2009-01-04, 13:39
Oh, and I think OP has some insecurity about his sister,maybe he's afraid she's superior to him or something.
zuperxtreme
2009-01-04, 15:39
fine. but i will still try to use socratic questioning to get you to see if you really want to think about that, and not only that particular thing, but become more aware of the things you do and don't want to talk or think about.. my gift to you :]
I still don't see what the big problem of just learning because "I didn't know that" is. You know, "The more you know...", it might be useful someday, or not. But you still know it and any knowledge enriches your character and makes you more cult. Something like experience points.
Knowledge breeds imagination
you cannot be creative with bare facts and relevant information
Strapping Young Lad
2009-01-04, 16:25
She wants to broaden her mind, what's so wrong about that?
Or do you want to know why she can do it, find it interesting and you can't?
mythbuster13
2009-01-05, 00:11
Star names are part of a series called general knowledge (trivia facts so you can understand), while the marble under the bush is not.