# Forecast the End of Knowledge **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 8, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514 "2008-05-08T02:18:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/1 "2008-05-08T02:18:47Z")
It seems to me that eventually, human knowledge will be advanced so far it becomes impossible to learn enough about it in one lifetime so as to come up with a way to research it further. Consider if, say, astronomy became so advanced that it was impossible, even if you spent a lifetime studying it, to come to a point that you know enough to be able to expand the frontier of that knowledge. Suppose, if you must, that only some disciplines of knowledge reaches this phase (to avoid a circular trap akin to better armour=better weapon=better armor). In other words, don’t say something like “Well if we know so much, then we’ll know how to live for a million years/download all knowledge into our brains/have supertechnology allowing us to expand our minds.” What would we have to do as a society? Live with the peace of mind that we’ve done all we can? Should we assign people to certain disciplines of study, so as to get as far as they can in their life on the specialized topic? Anything else you can think of? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/2 "2008-05-08T02:49:25Z")
Wouldn’t things be broken down into more and more refined disciplines? I imagine it’s impossible to know _everything_ about astronomy _now_. In order to advance the study of the field, I imagine you’d have to concentrate narrowly on (say) dark matter and leave evolution of pulsars or xenobiology or astro-geology to other experts in their respective sub-fields. That’s probably different than 500 years ago, when (WAG) Galileo might have know everything there was to know about the night sky. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/3 "2008-05-08T09:02:02Z")
Well, that’s sorta included in the premise. It’s so specific, so detailed and broken down that you can’t possibly learn enough in your lifetime to get to specifying it further. Say you took Physics 1 now, then Astronomy, then a class just on stars, then on only pulsars…eventually you’d run out of time. What then? ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/4 "2008-05-08T09:12:26Z")
When knowledge ends, there’s always [television](http://www.ilounge.com/images/uploads/idiocracy3.jpg). 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/5 "2008-05-08T12:58:31Z")
Not everything that’s discovered is worth remembering. Over time, the discoveries that matter will remain in the forefront, while the rest will disappear. That’s how we’ll keep knowledge manageable. ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/6 "2008-05-08T14:39:02Z")
Another point is that much of what we know now is just the summary of all the information and research that went into obtaining that knowledge. Not reinventing the wheel with every generation. ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/7 "2008-05-08T18:09:52Z")
I’ll ask my wife. She knows everything. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forecast-the-end-of-knowledge/448514/8 "2008-05-08T19:04:23Z")
I’d say if we ever start thinking like that, it’s time to check our priorities. There are certain things that can’t be learned in books, but only from personal experience. Those things constitute a healthy portion of what a person ought to know, in my humble opinion. Hence no matter how much stuff gets written down in books, there will always be more that every individual can learn.