Omniscience―would you want to know all things?

[Dsanders 5,747]

The subject of this topic is self-explanatory in the title. Would you want to possess absolute knowledge? Would you want to know all that there is to know in the universe? I'm wondering if any of you would see it as a curse or if you would see it as an opportunity of a lifetime. Look at the bright side, despite the fact that your instinctive thirst for knowledge may come to an ultimate end, you will be able to quench everyone else's thirst. You would be the greatest teacher to ever exist and your intellect would never be underestimated or challenged. This grand ability would come with omnilingualism, the ability to decipher any spoken or unspoken language in existence, from body language, computer language, and extinct languages. Your understanding of history would be boundless, being able to understand the exact words and dialogue exchanged among every human being to ever have lived or still living. I personally feel that this would be an incredible ability that one could revel in for the rest of his or her life; the thirst for knowledge may end but you would then be able to appreciate having this illimitable knowledge which would undoubtedly be exciting in of itself.

 

Your thoughts? Would you accept or decline the opportunity to possess such a capacity? 

Edited July 11, 2015 by Christopher

[Silkster 77]

The thought of achieving absolute knowledge is very tempting to most people. But it may also be a curse to someone. Sure, they could do the better for the living or maybe do an action just in minutes while others may take years and centuries. But when the second you earn that power, what you are in that world isn't called a living being anymore. For i believe, a living being is something that lives and grows, something who made mistakes and learns or gained something out of it. And to gain that infinite knowledge that us mortals could not think of means you may lose the will to act, the will to live, the will of caring. For though, absolute knowledge is a strength, it took your ethics and morals within your soul, making you say "Why do i even bother."
 

There may be a lot of things i want to know. But as mortals, i may or may not learn it anytime soon. So for that, i will say no to that power.

[Sunwalker 981]

Tempting, but I think it would be very scary to know other people's thoughts. Sometimes I am too afraid about what others think about me. But on the other hand, having all the knowledge would avoid any misunderstandings, so I guess that I would accept it .

[Star Saber 114]

Save the world by knowing everything there is to know; sure why not? There even might be the knowledge to achieve immortality so at that point I'm basically god... Of course I'd probably go mad with power... and that wouldn't end well.

[Troblems 5,617]

Absolutely would not take it were omniscience offered. If I knew everything, I feel I would lose my sense of awe of the world, which is truly an amazing thing to have. Additionally, Smart people are clinically proven to be less happy, and have higher incidence of depression. Pass.

[silvadel 1,393]

No stinking way.  It is the journey, not the destination.

[Guest]

Knowing everything would be awesome because it would be super easy to get rich. Knowledge is power you know.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Guest

[Celtore 2,770]

No, not at all! The pursuit of knowledge is one of the biggest reasons I bother to get up in the morning and the reason I want to become immortal. If I was just given all that knowledge on a silver platter, then what? Sure I could use the knowledge to benefit the world, but the unknown and the bizarre are what make life interesting. Nothing would pique my curiosity anymore, my imagination would die out knowing life's physical limitations and I think I would just end up being a shell of my former self. (Even more so than now)

[Misty Rose 3,216]

Truthfully I enjoy the process of discovery, but should such an ability be offered to me I'm not entirely sure if I would choose to accept it or not. It's a strange thing  I would lean more towards yes though. With my immense desire and fascination with travel it would be a great advantage to know every language that exists, and knowing computer language as well would be extremely beneficial for the type of career I wish to pursue

Edited July 11, 2015 by Misty Rose

[Dsanders 5,747]

Absolutely would not take it were omniscience offered. If I knew everything, I feel I would lose my sense of awe of the world, which is truly an amazing thing to have. Additionally, Smart people are clinically proven to be less happy, and have higher incidence of depression. Pass.

 

 

No stinking way.  It is the journey, not the destination.

 

 

No, not at all! The pursuit of knowledge is one of the biggest reasons I bother to get up in the morning and the reason I want to become immortal. If I was just given all that knowledge on a silver platter, then what? Sure I could use the knowledge to benefit the world, but the unknown and the bizarre are what make life interesting. Nothing would pique my curiosity anymore, my imagination would die out knowing life's physical limitations and I think I would just end up being a shell of my former self. (Even more so than now)

 

Interesting comments so far. I'm curious to know from you guys. If you were to be inflicted with the curse of omniscience would you not be able to replace your awe of the unknown with the awe of the known? Is ignorance truly bliss to an extent?

 

I'd personally be happy to be endowed with such knowledge that I could spend the rest of my life exploring within my head and sharing with others. I mean, think about it. All the gaps in our understanding of astronomy, biology, and history would finally be able to be filled, by you―to the most infinitesimal degree.

 

Your level of entertainment would be increased by a million fold. You would know every type of dance known to man, every form of martial arts and self defense in existence, every acrobatic move that could aid you in maneuvering through all urban settings. You would not only be intellectually unlimited but also physically boundless.

 

Though, nonetheless, I do understand why people would still be apprehensive of possessing such knowledge and some of its drawbacks. It would not be easy to enjoy reading or writing for example if you know every single word ever spoken and written by heart, in every language on top of that. It would not be easy travelling if you know where everything is located in the universe. At least you could spend an endless amount of time telling such things to those who are curious to know.

 

Now let me ask you a question that may or may not be easy to answer: Which of the two would be a worse curse to have: being mortal and omniscience or immortal with the amount of knowledge you have now?

Edited July 11, 2015 by Christopher

[Pastel 7,630]

Life would become incredibly boring if I knew everything. Surprise wouldn't exist anymore.

But I wouldn't mind knowing everything just before I die for example, out of curiosity.

However, I'd prefer to be immortal and keep the amount of knowledge I have, rather than being mortal and omniscient.

Edited July 11, 2015 by Blobulle

[Dsanders 5,747]

Tempting, but I think it would be very scary to know other people's thoughts. Sometimes I am too afraid about what others think about me. But on the other hand, having all the knowledge would avoid any misunderstandings, so I guess that I would accept it .

 

What if there was no way to access the thoughts of others? What if telepathy was a completely impossibility. Therefore you wouldn't be able to read the minds of others. Though you could tell their future and past actions ...

[Sigma 768]

Hell yes, knowledge=power. I'll solve P versus NP, establish world peace; all the things.

 

It's worth noting that one should ask how they can use omniscience to benefit others, not themselves. You may lose the ability to ever be surprised as well as be awe inspired by the universe, but there's still so much you could do to help the world. If omniscience really is a curse, then don't tell the world everything you know. Leave them in the dark a little bit so they won't have to bear the same burden, but still help them by giving out useful information.

[Invincible 2,091]

I would gladly accept omniscience. Knowledge is power, and there are many oddities in our realm of existence alone. Imagine understanding everything to the letter and then some! I could teach others, write down so many works on science, history, and more, before my life is extinguished. Heh, maybe i could even figure out immortality.

[Blake of Gilead 140]

...No. Simply because power like that could go to someone's head.

[Silkster 77]

No, not at all! The pursuit of knowledge is one of the biggest reasons I bother to get up in the morning and the reason I want to become immortal. If I was just given all that knowledge on a silver platter, then what? Sure I could use the knowledge to benefit the world, but the unknown and the bizarre are what make life interesting. Nothing would pique my curiosity anymore, my imagination would die out knowing life's physical limitations and I think I would just end up being a shell of my former self. (Even more so than now)

Sure.. i agree with you. But that made me wonder more. If we know the fastest, slowest, direct, indirect and alternate ways to do something, we wouldn't care about either way with no sense of curiosity. But there's still one thing that makes us mortals, living. Yes, that's right, living, the thing in us with needs and such. Unless you're someone who solely seek knowledge, well... you wouldn't still die anyway, cause that would be wasteful, but they wouldn't care anyway, but still infuriating for the ones who were just 'given' the knowledge, they would think it to be childish to... blah blah blah i'm taking random things. 

[Lexamena 391]

I would not want to know EVERYTHING, no. Absolutely not. However, I would like to have confidence that I know the things I think I know, and to learn the truth about the things I'm not sure I know.

[CheeryFox 23,821]

Not really. However curing cancer and diseases would be nice. 

[Sunwalker 981]

What if there was no way to access the thoughts of others? What if telepathy was a completely impossibility. Therefore you wouldn't be able to read the minds of others. Though you could tell their future and past actions ...

 

This way sounds more interesting. I think that the possibility helping the others is one of the most interesting aspects of omniscience. I don't think that "lack of surprise" would be a problem, since the awe of the acquired knowledge can also be a good in itself. People learn things all the time, yet they can still be amazed by what they know.

 

 

 

Now let me ask you a question that may or may not be easy to answer: Which of the two would be a worse curse to have: being mortal and omniscience or immortal with the amount of knowledge you have now?

 

I think that anything that involves "being mortal" is going to be scary. I don't think that there is anyone who actually wants to die. Fear of death affects everyone to some extent in some form, even if you do not lose a night of sleep over it, it still is the thing that make you look to both sides before crossing the street, for example.

 

I think that being alive, albeit with a limited knowledge, is preferable. But you can still keep learning.

[Blake of Gilead 140]

...Exactly. Knowing everything would alienate you from the rest of society.

[Misty Rose 3,216]

Interesting comments so far. I'm curious to know from you guys. If you were to be inflicted with the curse of omniscience would you not be able to replace your awe of the unknown with the awe of the known? Is ignorance truly bliss to an extent?

 

I'd personally be happy to be endowed with such knowledge that I could spend the rest of my life exploring within my head and sharing with others. I mean, think about it. All the gaps in our understanding of astronomy, biology, and history would finally be able to be filled, by you―to the most infinitesimal degree.

 

Your level of entertainment would be increased by a million fold. You would know every type of dance known to man, every form of martial arts and self defense in existence, every acrobatic move that could aid you in maneuvering through all urban settings. You would not only be intellectually unlimited but also physically boundless.

 

Though, nonetheless, I do understand why people would still be apprehensive of possessing such knowledge and some of its drawbacks. It would not be easy to enjoy reading or writing for example if you know every single word ever spoken and written by heart, in every language on top of that. It would not be easy travelling if you know where everything is located in the universe. At least you could spend an endless amount of time telling such things to those who are curious to know.

 

Now let me ask you a question that may or may not be easy to answer: Which of the two would be a worse curse to have: being mortal and omniscience or immortal with the amount of knowledge you have now?

@,

 

Worst curse would definitely be immortality! There is no way in Hell I could ever be happy knowing I'm stuck here literally till the end of time I would prefer to be all knowing but with a definitive end in the future. At least then I would be able to indulge in all the knowledge I possess and have fun discovering all the things I know how to do and understand. You don't really lose the thrill of discovery

[Blake of Gilead 140]

@,

 

Worst curse would definitely be immortality! There is no way in Hell I could ever be happy knowing I'm stuck here literally till the end of time I would prefer to be all knowing but with a definitive end in the future. At least then I would be able to indulge in all the knowledge I possess and have fun discovering all the things I know how to do and understand. You don't really lose the thrill of discovery

Totally! I would NOT wanna be immortal. It would suck knowing that everyone I know would die. 

 

Also: is that Joy from Inside Out as your avvie?

[Misty Rose 3,216]

Totally! I would NOT wanna be immortal. It would suck knowing that everyone I know would die.

 

Also: is that Joy from Inside Out as your avvie?

That's not what bothers me really, I just don't want to be stuck here forever, I want to die and move on eventually

 

And you are correct

[Blake of Gilead 140]

That's not what bothers me really, I just don't want to be stuck here forever, I want to die and move on eventually

 

And you are correct

Same here.

 

And Joy is best emotion.

[Misty Rose 3,216]

Same here.

 

And Joy is best emotion.

She sure is, though I got a kick out of all of them

 

Now I'm curious about something, would possessing omniscience give you the ability to know how your future will play out? Or is it only limited to curren and past knowledge?