Sta Hungry Stay Foolish

Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.

A blog by Leon Oudejans

Irrelevant unknown unknowns

In principle, we do not know what we do not know – a.k.a. unknown unknowns. In my view, nearly all information is unknown to us. Perhaps, this immense segment is even 99.99999999 % – or far more.

The other 3 segments are – once again, in my view – extremely small: known knowns (ie, knowledge), known unknowns (ie, beliefs), and unknown knowns (ie, instinct, intuition).

I suppose the reason that we can control and/or manage our lives – and survive this vast uncertainty – is that nearly all unknown information is irrelevant to us. Hence, my blog title: irrelevant unknown unknowns.

Some people have a vast knowledge about the tiny segment of known knowns. We call them polymaths: “a person who knows a lot about a lot of subjects.” Given the context above, the word polymath is a little misleading.

As mentioned in my previous blogs, the ambition of Artificial Intelligence (AI) is more than misleading; it’s impossible. Moreover, what’s the added value of a database full of irrelevant data (for most of us)??

In my view, the future of AI is about all relevant information. Hence, my conclusion that (only) Business-to-Business AI applications will survive and become (very) profitable (eg, medicine).

From a macro perspective, most known knowns are irrelevant for nearly all of us. From a micro view, only some known knowns are relevant to only some specialists. Hence, their use of specialist rather than generic databases.

Sometimes, humans have a spectacular way to touch upon relevant unknown unknowns. Usually, we refer to that phenomenon as fantasy or imagination.

“At times I feel certain I am right while not knowing the reason. [..] Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. [..].”

An Albert Einstein quote as mentioned in this 2023 Big Think article

Irrelevant (2022) by P!nk
artist, lyrics, video, Wiki-artist, Wiki-song

[Pre-Chorus]
You can call me irrelevant, insignificant
You can try to make me small

Note: all markings (bolditalicunderlining) by LO unless in quotes or stated otherwise.

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