My dear daughter,
I suppose this work has become part autobiography, memories and confessions, as well as lessons.
My goal is to impart as much knowledge as I can, from everything I have learned during my life. Sometimes I wish somebody had given me an instructions manual, but I suppose this is mostly due to my autistic nature.
Of course you should have your own experiences and make your own mistakes, but if I can prepare you for something I have been through, then I will have achieved my goal. Or make it unnecessary for you to have to go through some ordeal I already experienced to learn something.
Many people give undue emphasis to knowledge obtained from experience. It is important and the brain is more prone to register information if it is accompanied by strong emotions, sensations, smells, noises, tastes and visions. But one should never underestimate the pain our species went through to be able to store information outside of our genes, such as in books.
You don’t have to go to the moon to know a lot about it. It’s even possible to become acquainted with the first hand experiences of all of the astronauts who have actually been there.
As we shall discuss when we talk about the scientific method, you don’t have to redo every experience ever performed by every scientist, philosopher or naturalist since writing was invented. It is not necessary to rebuild every foundation if there is confidence all blocks were placed with proper order and method. You can start from the top floor and add your own contributions without having to reinvent the wheel every time.
It is possible to learn more about other countries and their cultures than people who have actually been there and just brought back pictures and videos.
It is possible to achieve a better understanding of another person’s perspective without having been through the exact same experiences. That is the root of compassion and is in the heart of many discussions about epistemology.
In the teachings of Socrates, as told by Plato, one has to admit lack of knowledge before any can be acquired. It’s a humbling lesson and also a call to epistemology – it’s important to delve into the nature of knowledge before establishing what is fact and what is belief.
How do you know you know something? How do you know what you know is the same other people claim to know? What is knowledge? How do you gain knowledge? What is knowledge and what is belief?
Love,
Dad
Aspergers Dad 