Re:How We Knew Space Was a Vacuum
by citrusynapse on Sunday March 12, 2023 @12:21PM
(#35122047)
And within epistemology and your process of "verifying" there are hundreds of contemporary schools of thought from Wittgenstein to Chbosky.
I don't care about Wittgenstein or Chbosky. I can only care what meanings mean to me.
The use of 'we' is fine in many cases - when talking about a holiday, I can say 'we went to the beach' and that is understandable because of the context.
Its not fine to talk about 'we' in the context of something that is subjective, eg understanding or knowing. It is an assumption to say 'we know' unless you have checked all the people you are referring to really do know.
If you think this usage is acceptable - and apparently most people do - I'd love to hear an explanation. To me, it is sloppy and confused thinking, and actually it's use is ultimately a type of casual lie, because it overstates whatever-it-is.
Re:How We Knew Space Was a Vacuum
by Jeff_Brown on Sunday March 12, 2023 @12:45PM
(#35122443)
I don't think anyone is in danger of being confused by the imprecision.
Put simply, 'we' cannot know anything. Knowledge only exists in the mind of an individual. No one is able to say what another knows. And unfortunately, most people don't even know the difference between knowing and believing!
At best, use of the term 'we know' is a shortcut to saying 'some scientists claim that'.
I can only know that claim to be true once I have verified it for myself. Until that time it can only be a belief or hypothesis.