# The Sum of All Human Knowledge.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [May 3, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845 "2008-05-03T03:11:48Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/1 "2008-05-03T03:11:48Z")
I am curious, has anyone ever tried to compile the sum of all human knowledge in one place? I know the sum is always changing, because more knowledge is always being discovered. Still, though hard, it would not be impossible. So has anyone ever tried to do this?
Thank you in advance to all who reply đ
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/2 "2008-05-03T03:21:51Z")
> **[Main PageWelcome to Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page)**
>
> Walt Disney (1901â1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he holds the individual records for the most Academy Award wins (22) and nominations (59). On October 16, 1923, he founded the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio with his brother Roy. He created the character Mickey Mouse and, as the studio grew, introduced synchronized sound, full-color three-strip Technicolor and technical developments in cameras. He expanded into feature-...
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### Author:  [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/3 "2008-05-03T03:38:42Z")
[http://www.straightdope.com/](http://www.straightdope.com/)
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/4 "2008-05-03T03:42:22Z")
[QUOTE=Jim B.]
I am curious, has anyone ever tried to compile the sum of all human knowledge in one place?
[/QUOTE]
I think they call that a âlibrary.â
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### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/5 "2008-05-03T03:44:03Z")
I mean the sum of **all** human knowledge. For example, you are not going to be able to find how to do open heart surgery at wikipedia, the straight dope or even you average library. Thank you for your replies so far, though đ .
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### Author:  [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/6 "2008-05-03T03:53:19Z")
[QUOTE=Jim B.]
I mean the sum of **all** human knowledge. For example, you are not going to be able to find how to do open heart surgery at wikipedia, the straight dope or even you average library.
[/QUOTE]
I meant a research library, such as youâd find at a major university. You will definitely find medical textbooks describing how to do open heart surgery, not to mention countless papers on this topic in medical journals.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/7 "2008-05-03T04:26:27Z")
If youâre really referring to the sum of _ **all human knowledge** _, then no. Youâd have to include every fact of reality that is known by even one person, no matter how insignificant; youâd have to include all the inconsequential minutiae of every single human being on the planet. I can think of quite a few things that I know, that nobody else knows.
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### Author:  [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/8 "2008-05-03T05:37:17Z")
The compilation of the sum of all human knowledge is in process as we speak. Itâs called the internet.
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/9 "2008-05-03T07:33:16Z")
[QUOTE=panache45]
If youâre really referring to the sum of _ **all human knowledge** _, then no. Youâd have to include every fact of reality that is known by even one person, no matter how insignificant; youâd have to include all the inconsequential minutiae of every single human being on the planet.
[/QUOTE]
Jorge Luis Borges wrote of the map of an empire drawn on a scale of 1:1-- meaning the map would be the same size as the territory it represents. Umberto Eco considered that idea and decided that a faithful 1:1 map representing a territory of maximum size would be impossible, as it would involve âinsuperable practical difficulties and theoretical paradoxes.â The OP calls for a faithful representation of the maximum extent of knowledge, another example of the principle of Borgesâs impossible map.
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### Author:  [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/10 "2008-05-03T09:17:32Z")
Isidore of Seville wrote what was probably the last attempt by a single person to collect all of human knowledge, and he died in 636:
> **[Isidore of Seville](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Isidore_of_Seville)**
>
> Isidore of Seville (Latin: Isidorus Hispalensis; c.â560 â 4 April 636) was a Hispano-Roman scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of the ancient world".
> At a time of disintegration of classical culture, aristocratic violence and widespread illiteracy, Isidore was involved in the conversion of the Arian Visigothic kings to Chalcedonian Christianity, both assisting his brother Leander of Se...
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/11 "2008-05-03T09:27:50Z")
[QUOTE=Johanna]
Jorge Luis Borges wrote of the map of an empire drawn on a scale of 1:1-- meaning the map would be the same size as the territory it represents. Umberto Eco considered that idea and decided that a faithful 1:1 map representing a territory of maximum size would be impossible, as it would involve âinsuperable practical difficulties and theoretical paradoxes.â The OP calls for a faithful representation of the maximum extent of knowledge, another example of the principle of Borgesâs impossible map.
[/QUOTE]
In other words, a collection of the sum of human knowlege already exists - itâs called humanity.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/12 "2008-05-03T10:11:35Z")
[QUOTE=Jim B.]
I mean the sum of **all** human knowledge. For example, you are not going to be able to find how to do open heart surgery at wikipedia, the straight dope or even you average library. Thank you for your replies so far, though đ .
[/QUOTE]
[http://health.howstuffworks.com/coronary-heart-disease-surgeries-and-procedures.htm](http://health.howstuffworks.com/coronary-heart-disease-surgeries-and-procedures.htm)
đ
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### Author:  [@Svejk\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Svejk_1)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/13 "2008-05-03T10:58:00Z")
[QUOTE=aldiboronti]
The compilation of the sum of all human knowledge is in process as we speak. Itâs called the internet.
[/QUOTE]
You are mistaking pornography for human knowledge. đ
Actually, much though I like the Internet, and even though it is potentially capable of housing infinite amounts of knowledge, at this stage it is deficient in many respects, that is to say, thereâs a lot of things on there that you \*\*cannot \*\* find. And I donât think it is even conceivable for the Internet to fulfill the above-mentioned potential. After all, while thereâs much knowledge accumulation going on, at the same time much knowledge is being destroyed.
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### Author:  [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/14 "2008-05-03T11:07:51Z")
I think weâve estalished that the short answer is ânoâ.
Even settling on just all useful-to-others human knowledge (e.g. heart surgery technique = yes, what I had for breakfast yesterday = no), we immediately get the point that there is not really a need to store all the deep details in one place.
Metaphorically speaking, we have Wikipedia & the Library of Congress for the outline of all human knowledge, and specialist sources for the details on each of the areas, from microchip design techniques to the current cladistic taxonomy of Dead Sea phytoplankton. There is no practical advantage to placing the uttermost details of those two areas of knowledge in the same place, much less those from the other billion equally detailed areas of knowledge available.
OTOH âŚ
As somebody upthread said, itâs called the internet. The knowledge doesnât have to be stored in one place, it just has to be accessible from one place: the one place where you are right now.
In a real sense, Google is trying to index 100% of the knowledge thatâs placed on the public web. So they and their competitors are the current approximation to the âsum of all human knowledgeâ for sensible / useful definitions of âsumâ & âhuman knowledge.â
At some point in the the growth of any collection of anything, the index and/or table of contents of the collection starts to be as important as the contents themselves. After all, thereâs no practical difference between not having something & not knowing you have it, or knowing you have it but not being able to find it.
ETA: And yes, as **Ĺ vejk** said, the current internet leave out an awful lot.
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### Author:  [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/15 "2008-05-03T12:04:58Z")
I have not much to add, but wanted to mention [Library of Alexandria](http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Library_of_Alexandria) - reputedly complete collection of then-current knowledge. Because itâs cool.
> [@](#):
>
> A story concerns how its collection grew so large: by decree of Ptolemy III of Egypt, all visitors to the city were required to surrender all books, scrolls as well as any form of written media in any language in their possession which, according to Galen, were listed under the heading âbooks of the shipsâ; these writings were then swiftly copied by official scribes.
Unfortunately, it burned.
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### Author:  [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/16 "2008-05-03T12:35:55Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan]
a collection of the sum of human knowlege already exists - itâs called humanity.
[/QUOTE]
Trouble is, humans donât live forever, and when they go their knowledge tends to go with them.
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### Author:  [@Wildcombination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildcombination)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/17 "2008-05-03T13:17:40Z")
Iâd like to mention Buckminster Fuller, a proto-blogger if there ever was one. From 1915 to 1983 he documented his life every 15 minutes. The result he called the Dymaxion Chronofile - it measures 270 feet/80 meters. Supposing you were to actually collect all the knowledge of the world, it would probably have to be something like that. Only you would have to update it fluidly. And then consider the metaknowledge creating itself out of that same project. And so on.
This is a clip from his âEverything I knowâ lecture: [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-938394498520786588](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-938394498520786588)
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### Author:  [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)
#### Post date: [May 3, 2008, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/18 "2008-05-03T20:35:27Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan]
In other words, a collection of the sum of human knowlege already exists - itâs called humanity.
[/QUOTE]
Except that the OP seems to be asking for a \*representation \*of this sumânot the actual knowledge base already found collectively in humanity, but an artifact, a compilation that would reproduce it in full. Similarly, you could say that the sum of all geography already exists as the earth itself; by analogy the OP would be asking for, not the earth, but a map of it that included a representation in full of every single thing on the earth.
The absurdity of such a 1:1-scale representation of everything in existence is what Borges was satirizing with his inimitable deadpan scholarliness in _A Universal History of Infamy_, the section headed âOf Exactitude in Science.â
> [@](#):
>
> âŚIn that Empire, the craft of Cartography attained such Perfection that the Map of a Single province covered the space of an entire City, and the Map of the Empire itself an entire Province. In the course of Time, these Extensive maps were found somehow wanting, and so the College of Cartographers evolved a Map of the Empire that was of the same Scale as the Empire and that coincided with it point for point. Less attentive to the Study of Cartography, succeeding Generations came to judge a map of such Magnitude cumbersome, and, not without Irreverence, they abandoned it to the Rigours of sun and Rain. In the western Deserts, tattered Fragments of the Map are still to be found, Sheltering an occasional Beast or beggar; in the whole Nation, no other relic is left of the Discipline of Geography.
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### Author:  [@Kozmik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kozmik)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/19 "2008-05-04T01:35:02Z")
[QUOTE=Xema]
Trouble is, humans donât live forever, and when they go their knowledge tends to go with them.
[/QUOTE]
But humanity lives forever..
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [May 4, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sum-of-all-human-knowledge/447845/20 "2008-05-04T02:43:22Z")
[QUOTE=Kozmik]
But humanity lives forever..
[/QUOTE]
I wouldnât bet on that.
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