The Human Mind and its ... limitations ...

**Keeper** · 04-05-2008 03:57 PM

Do you - in all honestly - believe that the human mind is capable of comprehending all that there is in the universe - indeed, in all universes? Can mankind truly learn all that there is to know? If the mind is only the result of chemical reactions in a finitely spaced organic "box", then just how much of the universe can it know? If it is not, could anything be capable of learning all that there is?

Your thoughts?

**ExoByte** · 04-05-2008 04:00 PM

Yes and No.

In our current, natural state, no. There are things we can't understand or see, things like other colours outside our visible spectrum. We'll never know what they really look like.

However, if human beings enhance themselves and their mind through the wonders of technology, in the future it may be possible to understand more and more.

**Moonbeam** · 04-05-2008 05:06 PM

So you're kind of asking if people will ever be like they say god is?

I don't think so. How would we know we had it all figured out anyway? You don't know what you don't know.

**wasup** · 04-05-2008 05:47 PM

I said "other." It has nothing to do with things being complex... I think the mind does not have a problem with complex things. The problem is just "space." There are things in the universe which are infinite. To understand an infinite, random (we don't need "space" to come up with an infinite series of something repeating or patterned) series of anything, the mind has to be infinitely large. Of course, this is not possible. So no, an individual cannot be omnipotent for this reason. However the ability of the mind to apprehend knowledge is not a problem and should certanily increase.

**Omega Weapon** · 04-05-2008 10:29 PM

I agree with what Wasup said to an extent. When infinity comes into the equation it becomes impossible nearly to comprehend, but maybe thats just my subjective nature now.. heh.

**wasup** · 04-05-2008 11:21 PM

Actually, people can comprehend infinity, not to mention reproduce it in any patterend form... given infinite time, of course. I mean, I can comprehend it, so it is not a problem. It's when infinity means randomness does it become a problem.

**Replicon** · 04-05-2008 11:53 PM

If there is meta data, we don't see it

**StephenT** · 04-06-2008 12:02 AM

Nope, too many paradoxes.

**Serkat** · 04-06-2008 01:02 AM

I figure that 'comprehending' and 'learning' are concepts that don't really have any meaning outside the human mind itself. All that humans do is form abstractions, theories and models to structure their experience of that which we perceive. We aren't really learning anything, we're just progressively changing the way we look at things.

If something is not learnable, then it still exists and we can quite possibly perceive it. If it is not to be learned, it is nonsensical to talk about it as a part of potential knowledge, because we ourselves define that space.

On top of that, there are too many simple philosophical and linguistic problems that would make it impossible for a human being to say that he knows everything and for this to be objectively true.

So the answer is no.

**Zera** · 04-07-2008 03:39 AM

If it is not, could anything be capable of learning all that there is?

Your thoughts?

How can we know if anything could be capable of learning everything there is? You already know we don't know all there is so how could you even ask that?

**juroara** · 04-07-2008 04:26 AM

if you could understand everything there is to know about the universe and all universe, and all existence, then no - you wouldn't be a human. and you wouldn't have a human mind

the human mind is limited

but I believe conscious is capable of self transcendence

**The Cusp** · 04-08-2008 09:56 PM

The difference between the Unknown and the Unknowable?

If you can ask a question, you can find an answer. The problem is there are bound to things so far removed from human experience, that we can't even begin to ask to proper questions.