Wittgenstein on what we know

 Wittgenstein suggested that using the word “know” suggests an experimental process was involved in our thinking.

It’s straightforward when I talk about what I know from having conducted a scientific experiment.

It’s a little less straightforward when I say that I know what I want, although I have, through experience, learned about things that I want and don’t want.

But consider what happens when people say they know what they believe. I wonder what kind of experiments were involved, how the person making the claim put their beliefs to the test. In Georgia, one of our congressional representatives, Marjorie Taylor Greene, provides interesting cases of beliefs almost daily.

This note is not about politics. It’s about how people think. I’ve found Wittgenstein to be an excellent guide to that subject. He was born on April 26, 1889, in Vienna. I’m marking the day.