Known and Unknown
What is known exists in three forms:
- That which we know and can remember
- That which we know but can't remember
- That which we know we do not know
What is unknown doesn't exist at all.
There have been studies estimating that about 91% of oceanic species are unknown to man. Unknown to the same man who is now going to build a colony on Mars, apparently. For context, the distance between us and Mars is equal to about 4.97 million Mariana Trenches (deepest known depth on Earth) lined up hand to hand.
But those estimates of pending discoveries are exactly that - estimates. In reality, we do not know.
What's interesting is that as soon as we realize that we do not know something, suddenly, we start glimpsing at how much could we be not knowing, which very glimpse brings more and more of the unknown into the realm of known's third category - that which we know we do not know. Like lighting up a torch through a very dark cave needs one to see the dark first.
Society at large doesn't value such a venture. It can't find a way to weigh a theme where looking at our own incompetence can ever be valuable. Nah, we're [insert a community tag - nation, religion, race, etc.] and we know a whole lot more than other communities.
If a few of us can manage to see a dark entrance, which everyone seems to be passing by pretending to be very confident, we should be able to arrange for a light bulb there. Now everyone knows what they do not know, and that's where life seems to actually begin.