naggum.no/erik/ | 1996-02-10 |
Erik Naggum's Ideas and Principles
Epistemology
Knowledge about reality comes in two flavors: positive (what's true), and negative (what's false). Positive knowledge is
hard to establish, certainty more so, but where it can be obtained it is usually worth the investment. Exclusive
positive knowledge, such that everything else must be false, is probably impossible even in theory, and we should always
keep an eye open for the unexpected truths that go against established truth and methodology. Negative knowledge is easy
to establish, certainty is cheap, but its acquisition is always a loss, as it is obtained from mistakes and errors, pain
and suffering, betrayal and disloyalty. Because negative knowledge is a drain on the individual and mankind in general,
it must be minimized: mistakes should not be repeated, and should cause investigation into what went wrong and why, and
we should endeavor to learn what is right.