The day of great ignorance

“I know that I know nothing,” said Socrates “But people imagine that they know something, but it turns out that they know nothing” This wise saying has come to us through the centuries thanks to the treatises of the idealist philosopher Plato December 8th is the Day of Great Unknowing This holiday draws attention to how large the area of ​​the unknown and misunderstood is even among the most educated people with a high level of intelligence What does Socrates' aphorism tell us? The great thinker argued that the more a person learns, the more clearly he understands how little he knows about any subject or phenomenon One cannot but agree with this statement New knowledge gives rise to new questions, increasing the volume of the unknown Any thinking and critical person can admit this Do we need to constantly expand our own ideas about life, objects and phenomena, the laws of existence? Yes, because thanks to this process evolution occurs However, the Bible says: “In much wisdom there is much sorrow; and he who increases knowledge increases sorrow” This phrase is interpreted quite widely On the one hand, a person, armed with theory and empirical knowledge, understands how imperfect and unfair the world is And this really gives rise to dissatisfaction, sorrow and mental tossing On the other hand, by overcoming the boundaries of the unknown, it is easy to cause suffering to many people Work on the creation of a hydrogen bomb in the middle of the last century took the form of a real intellectual race in which the leading world powers participated Victory went to the Soviet Union What marked the invention of the bomb by scientist AD Sakharov - the appearance of terrible weapons that could bring humanity to the brink of survival, or the opportunity to use thermonuclear fusion for peaceful purposes? Ecclesiastes was truly right when he argued that much knowledge increases suffering However, the human spirit is capable of overcoming them LN Tolstoy wrote in his book “On Truth, Life and Behavior”: “Fear not ignorance, but false knowledge It is better to know nothing than to consider as true what is not true” The writer warned his contemporaries and descendants about the danger of delusion that a person who overestimates the level of his own intelligence and education can fall into Therefore, it is useful to doubt even common truths As well as admitting ignorance, giving impetus to your own development The holiday, which is celebrated on December 8, is a fun and at the same time deeply philosophical celebration The day of great ignorance teaches us to be surprised at the world, its depth and diversity Humanity does not yet have answers to many questions However, they will certainly be found, posing new mysteries for people, because “what we know is limited, but what we do not know is infinite”