Who Knows, Or…. Really, Who Knows?
(Bad language advisory – do not read if there is even an inkling of a chance that you will be offended. I’ve got enough to think about without your drama.)
Granny says, “It ain’t what you know that’ll hurt you. It’s what you do know that ain’t so.”
People who “know” things used to scare me. Especially since everybody knows something different.
I always thought that “to know” meant to be correct about something. So when someone said, “I know this and this,” I assumed that what he said had to be unarguably true or he was severely disillusioned or a liar.
As I prepared to write this post, however, I learned something. I Googled “define: know.” Turns out that knowing does not require truth, facts, or evidence.
Knowing something can mean that you “posses knowlege or information,” but it can also mean that you simply “regard as true.” It can mean that you “perceive as familiar” or can “recognize as being different.” If you know it, you might have firsthand knowledge of the emotions, or you might even have slept with it.
I feel better now, knowing that knowing isn’t necessarily knowing as I’ve known it. From now on, whenever someone claims, “I know it!” I will just assume that they really mean, “I think it!” “I recognize it!” or “I fucked it!”
