29JUN2020 – Quote of the Day

Everybody gets told to write about what they know. The trouble with many of us is that at the earlier stages of life we think we know everything- or to put it more usefully, we are often unaware of the scope and structure of our ignorance.

Thomas Pynchon

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Jason
Jason
3 years ago

This reminds me of the ultra-high res photo of Mount Everest. When zoomed out, you can see the entire thing and several surrounding peaks. But when zoomed fully in, you can clearly see tents at various camps and even people hiking up the mountain. It gives you a wonderful sense of scale when zooming back and forth… And a more accurate sense of just how insignificant we humans actually are. We lose sight of just how big this world is, and just how small we are on it. Then when you think that this world is just a tiny little… Read more »

Jason
Jason
3 years ago
Reply to  photog

It wasn’t a photo. I’m sorry I was unclear… it was the quote above: “… we are often unaware of the scope and structure of our ignorance.” It simply made me think of the sense I got while looking at that photo of Everest. We, as humans, are truly insignificant in relation to the creation around us. We lose sight of that fact all too easily.

Chemist
Chemist
3 years ago

And the older we get, the more we realize that we know nothing.

Chemist
Chemist
3 years ago
Reply to  photog

Ah. I had that one hammered into me before I was old enough to vote.