“To know what you know and what you don’t know, that’s real knowledge” is a saying attributed to Confucius, of which versions are also in the writings of Plato and probably every big thinker among the old people.
Former Defense Minister Donald Rumsfeld added his own famous riff about the issue of knowing. This came when “Rummy” appealed to the press on 12 February 2002:
“Reports that say that something has not happened, are always interesting for me, because as we know, there are well -known known; there are things that we know we know. We also know that there are well -known strangers; that is, we know that there are some things we don’t know. But there are also unknown strangers – who we don’t know that we don’t know.”
Putin Ally warns ‘Titanic efforts’ are underway to sink Trump Summit above Ukraine War
Everyone reminds of the old wisdom and secretary Rumsfeld’s reformulating that learning is useful in the president’s aftermath Donald TrumpThe meeting with the Russian dictator Putin last week and his meeting yesterday with the Ukrainian President Zenskyy and other European leaders.
Unless you were present in both meetings, you know the state of some negotiations on the attempt to end the fight in both countries. Many reporters have claimed to ‘know’ what they cannot possibly know: what Trump, Putin and Zenskyy think and what these meetings can follow.
There is certainly a genuine desire to know. There are also “sources” willing to claim “knowledge” from what happened and to feed it to their favorite reporters.
But even the best reporters cannot know what the state of playing is because the “not knowing” of the public is the essence of diplomacy with high effort, and such a diplomacy is built on confidentiality and deception.
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Compare this situation of not knowing with our ability to know that Armenia and Azerbaijan have signed a peace agreement that is mediated by President Trump who wants to resolve conflict about Nagorno-Karabach for decades. We can also “know” that the conflicts between India and Pakistan, between Cambodia and Thailand and between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have been brought at least temporary control because bombs do not fall, rockets are flying or bullets are fired. The appearance of peace is verifiable. This is how its absence is. We don’t see it in Ukraine and we just can’t know whether President Trump’s initiative will bear fruit.
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This is a reminder to check your media sources. If one of them tells you what happened in Alaska last week or in Washington, you must re -assess your use of that platform or at least the bylines who claim to know what is unknown.
Reporters who are played or are paid for clicks for clicks. This is a perfect opportunity to weed your feeds and your subscription list. Loss the people who pretend to have telepathy or knowledge that could not be shared in a responsible manner. Such a “report” is worse than no report at all.
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