I'm going to make one more stab at trying to get this point across. I'm sure that thrills you.
While I was out shopping, my brain was rolling this around and I realized what you remind me of in this argument. You remind me of those on the other side of the evolution argument, the ones who keep insisting that evolution is only a theory, not a fact. They get quite exercised when people talk about evolution like it's a done deal. Well, we all know it's a theory, not a fact. When we refer to it as evolution we mean thetheoryofevolution but we don't bother to say all that because it's not necessary. It's only important to those who, for some reason, keep harping on the fact that it's not a fact, like we don't know that. An occasional check to make sure we know it's a theory is fine, but then let the discussion move on.
The same is the case when we say we know someone. No, we don't really, really KNOW them, but we have operational landmarks as regards them, valid or not. I agree that it needs to be pointed out every now and again that we don't really ever know anyone, just so we don't lose sight of how poorly we communicate, how many false assumptions and inferences we make, etc. But for day to day conversation and contemplation, we use the word, know, for something short of all knowing and we all know what we mean by that, more or less. It's a social convention that we don't have to add the equivalent of "thetheoryof" everytime we say we know someone.
Neo just said he knows that he exists. Maybe he does and maybe he doesn't. The point is that we couldn't live our lives from day to day unless we assumed that we existed and that we know lots of things.
If you're in the kitchen preparing dinner and there's a fly flitting around, you recognize it as a fly, a creature that doesn't belong in your kitchen, and you swat the fly. Or, alternately, in your household, and mine, too, you open the window so the fly can find his way out. In either case, you recognize the fly and you take action. You know it's a fly and that flies don't belong. Now, on a lazy afternoon you might want to sit on the patio with an Arizona tea and contemplate how or if we know a fly is a fly. You might contemplate the differences in eye structure between flies and humans and wonder about the differences in the way the two species perceive reality. You might even ponder if you exist or if you really know anything or anyone. But, most of the time you just accept the convention that a fly is a fly and proceed accordingly. If you stopped cooking and lapsed into a debate with someone attending your dinner party about the reality of flies, they'd think you were nuts. They're hungry and they want dinner, preferably served without contact with flies. Alternate realities and discussions of them aren't suitable for the menu except on rare occasions. |
