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+--- Thread: A Piece of Knowledge (/showthread.php?tid=37549)
A Piece of Knowledge - 2147483647 - 2011-02-08
There is a piece of knowledge that exists. Somewhere, somehow, someone in the world knows this piece of knowledge. You don't know what this piece of knowledge contains, but one thing you do know for certain is that this piece of knowledge is depressing. That being said, this piece of knowledge can be anything. It can be about you, or it can be not about you. It can be important, or it can be not important. It can be easy or difficult to forget. You don't know anything other than that it is existent and that it is depressing.
1. Would you want to know?
Suppose that you want to know. You venture on your way, and one day, a sage tells you that he knows of this piece of knowledge that you seek. You know without a doubt that this sage knows the piece of knowledge that you are looking for, and that he is not going to deceive you. He gives you two options. He can either tell you if this piece of knowledge is about you or not, or he can tell you what this piece of knowledge is about. He can not tell you both, and it is impossible for you to find out.
2. Which part of this piece of knowledge do you want to know? Keep in mind that you know for certain that the knowledge is depressing.
A Piece of Knowledge - SaptaZapta - 2011-02-08
"Wanna know something sad?"
A Piece of Knowledge - Link - 2011-02-08
I want to know it all. I'm a man -- I can handle it. I don't care what it's about, either. Just tell me, damn it.
A Piece of Knowledge - Rick - 2011-02-08
If you want to know the contents of the knowledge, you are going to spend a lot of time stressing about whether it is you it will happen to. If you want to know if it is about you, and the answer is yes, you are going to spend a lot of time stressing about what is going to happen to you. If the answer to this is no, it is not about you, then you may as well have not asked anything at all. You know it is not about you, but you have no idea what is not about you so it affects you in no way.
Seeking the knowledge can either give you a lot of stress or give you peace of mind, but that peace of mind is the same as what ignorance would bring. You are better off walking away.
A Piece of Knowledge - -Ghost- - 2011-02-08
I'd want to know what it is.
It being depressing would mean the information is different for each person though. The only way the information could possibly be depressing for me -personally- would be if it was about something I already know and have dealt with in my past, that means it really wouldn't be that depressing and I'd tell the sage he completely wasted my time.
A Piece of Knowledge - Shidoshi - 2011-02-08
-What it is: you gain knowledge about something said but you have no way to know if it concerns you. -1
-If it's about you:
a)It's about you: you know there is something said about you, you don't know what. -1
b)It's not about you: you are mostly clear of mind since it does not concern you. +1
Atributing somewhat arbitrary values to the outcomes, I'd choose to know if it's about me, as that has the better average outcome. Of course this could vary if you get more or less depressed with one of the results (or more or less happy).
>Game Theory, I'm going to have a one week course about it in Prague in March =D
A Piece of Knowledge - 2147483647 - 2011-02-08
Say that you chose to know what this piece of knowledge is about. The sage did not tell you whether or not the piece of knowledge is about you, and because he purposely made it ambiguous, it is impossible for you to figure out. However, this piece of knowledge is about some past event, and has credible basis. You recognize certain parts of this piece of knowledge, yet other parts seem unfamiliar and strange. You think that this piece of knowledge is about you, but you cannot be certain. You inquire the sage, and after much begging, he tells you that it is either about you or your friend. He then states that he cannot tell you further about who this piece of knowledge belongs to. You scratch your head and try to imagine who this piece of knowledge belongs to, but you cannot. It's too ambiguous. This piece of knowledge is also important, if it is about you. It is unimportant if it is not about you.
3. Do you think that this piece of knowledge is about you, or not about you?
After thinking about it, you believe that this piece of knowledge is too depressing to be about you. There is a possibility that it is about you, and you are not an optimist, but because this piece of knowledge is depressing, and it degrades the person in question, you ultimately decide that it is more comforting to believe that it is not about you. Thus, you instead believe that this piece of knowledge is about your friend.
4. Once you've formed your opinion, if the sage tells you otherwise, would you change your opinion? Keep in mind that it is impossible to figure out who it is about, and only the sage knows the answer. However, because the sage already told you that he cannot tell you further, there is a possibility that he deceives you in this step.
A Piece of Knowledge - BlueRuin - 2011-02-08
I don't want to know. I already know enough about things that I wish I didn't know.