These are things that we know we know
These are things that we know that we do not know
These are things that we don't know we don't know
The entire statement, who said this and what does it all mean?
The entire statement and who said it:
“There are known knowns. These are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns. That is to say, there are things that we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns. These are things we do not know we don’t know."
—United States Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
At a press briefing on February 12th, 2002, former US Defense Secretary made this statement relating to the absence of evidence in linking the Iraqi government to it's alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction. At the time this statement was criticized as an abuse of language but later on defended for it's profound and almost philosophical truth.
Rumsfeld's defenders chimed in
'..in fact a brilliant distillation of quite a complex matter'
- Canadian columnist Mark Steyn
'Although the language may be tortured, the basic point is both valid and important...'
- Australian economist and blogger John Quiggin
'If Rumsfeld thinks that the main dangers in the confrontation with Iraq were the "unknown unknowns," that is, the threats from Saddam whose nature we cannot even suspect, then the Abu Ghraib scandal shows that the main dangers lie in the "unknown knowns" - the disavowed beliefs, suppositions and obscene practices we pretend not to know about, even though they form the background of our public values.'
- Psychoanalytic philosopher Slavoj Žižek
'A subject is certain of something when he knows that thing; he is uncertain when he does not know it, but he knows he does not: he is consciously uncertain. On the other hand, he is unaware of something when he does not know it, and he does not know he does not know [emphasis added], and so on ad infinitum: he does not perceive, does not have in mind, the object of knowledge. The opposite of unawareness is awareness.'
- Italian economists Salvatore Modica and Aldo Rustichini
Since then there have been humorous spoofs of Rumsfeld's quote:
If you have any suggestions to add please send an email to info [at] greyorgray dot com.
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