The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1891-08-23
WHAT WE KNOW,
Very Littlo IN Comparison with
What Wo Do Not Know
AInny Tbings tn the Realms OF Sense and
Sentiment With Which We Er.
roneously Think wo Arc
Eamiliap,

In aiming to isolate and pick up, TO
handle and examine few of the
Things We Do Not Know" the 6rst
step Is to identify few Of the things
VIC think we know, but don't; naxt, u
O few OF the things we think we don't
know, but do-for that 10 tho same rs
not knowing them; and. finally to point
out some Of those we know we don't
know, end which we suro enough don't,
writes an iconoclast In tho Now York
Evening Sun.
For example, emong the last nro o
child's mind, womans meaning, O.
mans purpose, tho verdict of O Jury,
the oper Ation Of medicines, tho speeoh
OF cats, cAhics Of dogs, and so on; all of
which we know to exist, and that ypo
know nothing further about them
Some folks suppose they know things
learned ut school; as, for example, that
parallel straight lines In plano ORC two
that never meet; but this isn't true If
the lines arc parallel they do meet-at
infinity. Others hug tho dclusion that
straight limo does not change It's d.
rcction, however prolonged Tho fact
is, of course, that straight line Is part
of circumference Of infinite radius.
Among things we thinl, wc don't
know, but which we do know NIL the
time, tho first is: What wo will our
solves do m o situation Svc have once
experienced We shall, in fact, do Just
what we did before. If our conduct on
that OCCASION turned ont Ill many
people think they will do something
else, and TINT they don't know what.
This Is delusion- They will do tho
Same old thing. Otherwise man would
learn by experience, which Is against
nature
Another thing o man thinks hcdoesut
know Is that fcllow-croaturn who
cheats u thir,l for his sake will chcat
him for the fellow-cr,aturc's own salco.
Yet this is truth tint governs human
relations rs grnvitation rules tho matc-
rial universe 1t Is menstruuIn In
which the relations of men and women
find u universal solvent.
Mnny persons believe thoy know tlfnt
Iron Is substance which cannot change
into different substances More error.
Iron maintains Its identity ut the
temperature of terrestrial lnborn-
tories 1t splits up into other
substances under the suns heat.
Most folks think they have o mental
imngc of what the moons surface Is
like, but they haven't They have such
on image of that half of it's surfacc
which man sees, but none of the other
half. which man has never seen.
There are people who believe thcv
know whnt their own inside is Ike.
though they havo never seen O cadnncr
or hog in tho cutting up
There arc even school-teachcrs who
think they know that English verso scans
In the number OF it's syllablcs, prospect
I've of the time required to utter them.
30 there arc writer's of such worse who
misconceivo outcry to DO poetry II It "a
mctrically articulaec-
More people think they know that the
rudder turns tho bow OF a boat than
know that what 1t really does is 70
swing the stern
Most people know, when speaking Of
On electric fluid or current, TINT, while
electrical phenomena arc developed suc-
cessivcly in time and space, nothing OK
lists corresponding to any of our other
conceptions for which the words fluid
and current stand More than this.
very few persons have formed any kind
of provisional hypothesis, even, for TO
ducing to any sort of concrete image the
silnulacrun of n concept that waivers
bohind the use OF the word electricity.
Among other things we think VIC
know, but don't, may be enumerated:
Pointers ON the stock exchange, the
figures Of visible supply of staples and
the real responsibility of parties rated
at one million dollars or upward by the
commercial agencies
~ popular delusion is that tho liar
can be made, who Is not born 50. The
liars gift is, In fact, ono Of tho rarcst;
its highest expression consists in tho
insight that disocrns It's opportunity to
tell the truth with the certainty of be-
ing disbclicvcd.
More men believe they can play drav
than there arc white black birds, ye. the
man who can play draw is the carer
beast.
Folks talk Of steam; to most n them
visible vapor Is the thing tb word
stands for; many think thcy beliovc
that the cloud they SEQ issuif 2 from O.
steam waste pipe Is the agency that.
still visible cloud, moves the stenm
engine. Few, perhaps, really believe
this, for the mental impressions of most
OF such people on such subjects are too
vague and unmoaning TO be rightly
called beliefs. But there Is O consider
able number of people who know bet
ter than to confound live steam in its
working state with visible vapor; most
OF these perhaps have read or have
heard of ON hypothesis by which par
ticles in the gaseous condition are con-
ceived to fly about, bombarding tho
sides OF vessels In which the gases may
DO contained coming into collision with
one another. How many stop TO reflect