How much can we scientifically know?

[Solve]

Is there a limit to what we can scientifically know or will we eventually know everything?
To be specific, will we eventually know everything about the universe or do theorems like heisenbergs put limits on knowledge?

Solve

[Tormod]

It's a very good question but it's not new (well, is any question new?).

Knowledge is by definition biased. Scientific knowledge is still biased, and what we know will always be limited by our experiences, ability to understand connections, and see the larger picture. We have not seen much of the universe, and there is so much about it that we don't understand. Our understanding of the universe is extremely limited by our location and inability to move around in it.

Whether it is even *possible* to know everything is one question. I don't think so, because "everything" is too large. Does it involve memories, for example? Will future scientists be able to know what we thought? That information will be lost to them. Can we know everything about places we haven't visited? How do we even start to identify the things that we don't know?

[Doctordick]

Hi Tormod, nice to see you posting here.

One thing I would like to point out, there is a big difference between knowing things and understanding things. People tend to dump the concepts together as if they are the same thing. Knowing everything is clearly beyond human capability but understanding everything could possibly be achievable.

Have fun -- Dick

[Rade]

One cannot understand anything "a" that is not known, and, if as stated, knowing a thing such as "a" is clearly beyond human capability, yet "a" exists, then logically it is false assumption to claim that understanding everything could possibly be achievable, for the simple reason that "a" exists yet is not known.

As to the OP question, perhaps someday humans will know "everything" via science, but, because Science is defined as Uncertain Knowledge, even knowing everything scientifically does not mean that the knowledge is without limits. Just consider the HUP--does anyone claim a way to have precise knowledge of both position and momentum of a quantum entity at a moment in time ? If you want certain knowledge of anything, then you must use a means other than science--by definition such knowledge is impossible via use of scientific thinking.

The important distinction for rational discussion of science is between "certain knowledge" and "uncertain knowledge", only the second is possible via science. Understanding is after the fact of knowledge, first must exist a thing "x" that can be known, then enters the question of how much of the knowledge is understood.

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by Solve

Is there a limit to what we can scientifically know or will we eventually know everything?
To be specific, will we eventually know everything about the universe or do theorems like heisenbergs put limits on knowledge?

Solve

The problem is how would we know when we know everything, without knowing everything beforehand in order to be able to say: "Right - this, here, is everything"...?

[arkain101]

Yes, I think there is a limit to what we can know and understand. Because there is a limit, we can then only understand what is in this said boundary. As such, we can come to understand everything, because every thing is contained in this boundary.

Things beyond this boundary/limit are what we tend to think of as irrational abstract concepts. Such as, things that are NOTHING, (yet still have a noticeable presence such as empty space) lacking property that can be attributed to what we think and call THINGS/SOMTHINGS,

[freeztar]

Oh jeez, You guys have never experienced Ecology.
Knowledge is at our feet. Those little ants running around are more than a picnic spoiler, they're a society!

Will we eventually know everything? No.
It's not in our cards. We are supposed to explore and question.

Hence this thread.

[lawcat]

I agree with doctordick that understanding is the key; not knowledge. For example, we can not know certain things in the past, yet we can understand them from the circumstantial facts.
Understanding is the key, and I believe that we can eventually understand everything.

[Boerseun]

Originally Posted by lawcat

...I believe that we can eventually understand everything.

How would you know when you've reached that point?

[lawcat]

Originally Posted by Boerseun

How would you know when you've reached that point?

Oh, I do not claim that one man can understand everything. A civilization with all the tools can reach that point. How would you know? You would get a newsflash informing you of that.
I have no clue about many long existing technologies, yet our civilization utilizes them, and I receive a newsflash.