Does Knowledge Result In Increased Knowledge

A common characteristic of humanity is the desire to seek big truths, pursue enlightenment and perpetually strive to have all the answers, regardless of how futile the pursuit. Consequently, the human mind is uncomfortable with uncertainty, so we are programmed to find explanations or create them if we must. We desire confidence in our knowledge, which we typically associate with expanding our knowledge. Therefore, when one has a greater understanding of something they are more assured about the topic, and thus confidence. However, the relationship between knowledge and confidence can have an inverse relationship too, as increased knowledge can also breed doubt. When JW von Goethe claimed that “we know with confidence only when we know little; with knowledge doubt …show more content…
Since knowledge is not definite, it cannot be conquered and there is no endpoint. Therefore, increased knowledge provides new insight or confidence, but it also exposes new uncertainties and results in new questions. Therefore, to what extent does increased knowledge result in increased doubt? In the natural sciences, the concept of scientific discoveries and how increased knowledge can alter or disprove them illustrates the relationship between doubt and knowledge. In an attempt to explain the formation of living organisms Aristotle assembled the spontaneous generation doctrine which indicated that living organisms materialized from nonliving matter. This theory was supported by the appearance of maggots in dead meat and was believed with absolute confidence for two millennia. Everyone accepted this