On Hope and Knowledge
A Skeptic’s Response and Other Reflections
by
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From the Conclusion of Introduction (p. 21):
The title of this work refers to knowledge. I consciously chose this term to emphasize that science is a human endeavor. Much of the preceding heavily focused on science as a human activity and I was tempted to subtitle the chapter “on knowledge”, however I did not do so for two reasons: first, because the topic of knowledge will reappear throughout the rest of this work, it is indeed a running theme; and second because not all knowledge is science. While all knowledge is (must be) in some way testable, not all involves an ability to predict, control or heal the world. For example, I know that currently my wife is with a friend sightseeing at the Wild Animal Park in Escondido, CA. I also know that my daughter is at work in Manhattan. None of this is science. Likewise, historical knowledge, as in the history of the World Wars, of the Vietnam War, the equal-rights movement of the 1960s, the ending of the Cold War, etc., are all valuable and important for understanding the current state of our nation and its relationship with the international community. But that does not make history a science.
The subsequent chapters are mostly essays: each intended to stand on their own but interweaved so as to hopefully form a coherent whole. The four appendices at the end are addendum, more notes to myself than necessary for following the discussions of the main chapters. I am all too painfully aware of my shortcomings in breaching many of these topics; each can and do, demand their own discipline of expertise. Nevertheless, our lives are a constant attempt to synthesize to the best of our abilities all of these elements: to find our place in the world; hence philosophy, hence this effort now.
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About the Book
Who are we?
Where are we?
How are we to behave?
These are the questions of a curious mind, and for many who increasingly find themselves unsettled by the unmooring of the modern age, ancient answers to these questions have become less and less satisfactory.
In On Hope and Knowledge, author Joseph Milana shares an insightful collection of essays exploring our place in the world, seeking out contemporary philosophical answers informed by science and history. Starting with some perhaps unusual insights on the history of science, Milana builds to broader questions of knowledge, of the known and the knowable, of God, of justice, and of love; he also explores our tendency to doubt, explaining it as both a guiding principle and a replenishing source of our humanity—a humanity that is confronted with increasingly frail and receding ancient wisdoms.
The curious mind seeks answers from the varieties of human experience—from history and religion to mathematics and science. Our lives are a constant attempt to synthesize all of these elements together to the best of our abilities—to find our place in the world. Hence philosophy; hence this effort now.
About the Author
Joseph Milana was born in Brooklyn, New York, and he received his PhD from the Institute of Theoretical Physics at SUNY–Stony Brook. After pursuing an academic career, he moved with his family to San Diego, California, in 1996, where he ultimately became a chief scientist at FICO and then at Opera Solutions. He currently owns a company that leverages statistical models and artificial intelligence to make investments in the derivatives market.