Nobody Knows Anything.

One of the more amusing incidents at KnowProSE.com's office in SecondLife, which happened before the impromptu event there, was someone teleporting in and sitting down. They admired the picture of Einstein aloud, and I asked them to touch it - knowing that it would pop up a dialog which would take them to the Wikipedia entry of Albert Einstein.

'Is that the best you can do? Just a link to some information on Einstein?'

Puzzled, I wondered what he expected. Did he expect me to have a script in there which created an Einstein Avatar which would sit there and discuss the Theory of Relativity? Probably not. This was probably a snide comment to show he was not impressed. That anyone could do it - and certainly, anyone can - and my point is that maybe we should. Visual learners may benefit, but this was not his point. Perhaps simple minds appreciate complex things and complex minds appreciate simple things. I don't know. I do know I like simple solutions, not overengineered ramparts to obscure views and performance.

'Do you know a lot about physics?'

There's a loaded question. I don't think anyone knows a lot about physics, I say as much. He, being an all-knowing-sort-of-being, makes some snide remarks and hastily beats a retreat, accusing me of wasting his time. Gee. Sorry. Didn't know you'd go into conniptions over Physics, pal.

But the point I was trying to make - apparently to someone who didn't want to consider it - was that even though we've made all of these advances over the years, we really don't know that much about what's going on around us. Sure, we have virtual worlds, but we cannot predict the weather. Yes, we have complex religions with devout followers, but we still haven't figured out how to avoid killing one another. Yes, we have the Theory of Relativity, but we don't know how to explain exactly how light behaves. We know that hydrogen and oxygen make up water, but we haven't managed to get water to everyone on the planet. We know a lot, but we know so much less than we want to. Our science is reactionary to our knowledge, and the more we know - the less we know.

Every new advance is just another starting point. In the grand scheme of things, nobody really knows anything. We're just hacks, trying to come up with theories to prove to hope we understand what is around us. It's the unknown that scientists are, or should be, interested in. Knowing a lot about 'physics' isn't about what you read in the library.

It's about asking the right questions. And that means, frankly, that nobody knows anything. Every revered scientist has hinted at this. Unfortunately, this is not what they were revered for. We think that they have pushed back the unknown, when all we really know is that they somehow redefined the unknown into more intelligible questions.

Maybe virtual worlds give us a little too much hubris at times.