The paradox of knowledge: between ignorance and progress

With his famous “I know that I know nothing,” Socrates bequeathed to Western culture an unsurpassed lesson in epistemic prudence: the awareness of the limits of one’s own knowledge.

Such awareness is not an act of resignation, but rather an invitation to constantly transcend those very limits through research and innovation.

Throughout history, scientists, artists, and philosophers have drawn on this tension between ignorance and knowledge to achieve extraordinary goals.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed the dual nature of this paradox: on the one hand, the power of scientific progress; on the other, the fragility of a memory that too easily forgets the lessons of the past.  In what terms, then, can we interpret this double nature of ignorance?

On the one hand, it can serve as a stimulus for innovation and improvement; on the other, it can be the cause of fatal mistakes.  We live in an era characterized by a continuous flow of information.

But how much of what we receive can we truly understand?  The sheer quantity of data prevents us from analyzing it carefully, generating more doubts than certainties.

In this drift of knowledge, the generation of “boomers” is lost—formed with few data, much effort, and a strong critical spirit—while the “digital natives” flounder, unaccustomed to the doubts of reason.  In this scenario, Artificial Intelligence presents itself as a tool capable of processing and organizing such information, transforming it into knowledge.  Will AI succeed in bridging the gap between data and understanding—and offer us a knowledge that is more solid, coherent, and perhaps even more ethical?