Knowing What We Know

The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

“A delightful compendium of the kind of facts you immediately want to share with anyone you encounter . . . . Simon Winchester has firmly earned his place in history . . . as a promulgator of knowledge of every variety, perhaps the last of the famous explorers who crisscrossed the now-vanished British Empire and reported what they found to an astonished world.”—New York Times

From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is award-winning writer Simon Winchester’s brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass on information and data, and how technology continues to change our lives and our minds.

With the advent of the internet, any topic we want to know about is instantly available with the touch of a smartphone button. With so much knowledge at our fingertips, what is there left for our brains to do? At a time when we seem to be stripping all value from the idea of knowing things—no need for math, no need for map-reading, no need for memorization—are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?

Addressing these questions, Simon Winchester explores how humans have attained, stored, and disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography, and broadcasting, he looks at a whole range of knowledge diffusion—from the cuneiform writings of Babylon to the machine-made genius of artificial intelligence, by way of Gutenberg, Google, and Wikipedia to the huge Victorian assemblage of the Mundanaeum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northern Belgium.

Studded with strange and fascinating details, Knowing What We Know is a deep dive into learning and the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour, Winchester forces us to ponder what rational humans are becoming. What good is all this knowledge if it leads to lack of thought? What is information without wisdom? Does Rene Descartes’s Cogito, ergo sum—“I think therefore I am,” the foundation for human knowledge widely accepted since the Enlightenment—still hold?

And what will the world be like if no one in it is wise?

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Simon Winchester (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Mr Winchester is very liberal in his prejudices.

Mr. Winchester, in his discussion of nuclear energy, leaves out the benefits of the technology. He forgot all about the millions of Japanese lives saved by ending the most terrible war in world history. And what about millions kilowatts of electricity generated by nuclear power plants?

Audible needs "chapter breaks" at each section

Another good Simon Winchester book. If you like his work, you will like this.
The chapters are very long, with numbered sections within each chapter. Audible needs to break the "chapters" at each section. Then it would be much easier to find your place when searching.

Fascinating look at how we know anything

As usual with Winchester, a thoughtful and broad look at a subject. This book is about the meaning of facts, knowledge, and wisdom, and how one leads to another. Lots of interesting history, from the schools of ancient Babylon to artificial intelligence and whether or not it will lead to a reduction in human intelligence. But of course, also as usual with Winchester, the story is told by looking at the lives of extraordinary people throughout history.

Brilliant

Simon Winchester’s research is impeccable and his prose style fascinating, examining the entire history and possible future of human knowledge,

Winchester is the best

Like all his books, fascinating, wise, and wonderfully read. Highly recommended, a great, engaging book.

His best book!

Mr. Winchester is at his best here with such well educated brillance on the history of the conveyance of knowledge right up to the un fathomable present full of machines that do the thinking for us. He is four square against the use and proliferation of nuclear weapons, their apologists who claim Hiroshima actually saved lives. He makes his rational and decent opinions on this subject without hesitation.If the agnostics have a priest it would be he! Beautiful narration as always!

Fascinating even digressions

As a retired knowledge philanthropist, (a public reference librarian who had amassed a wealth of knowledge and then gave any of it away for the mere asking,) I found this delightful as as Winchester went over ground I had studied and then added his own experienced insights. I will now spend some effort to look into Confucius and Aristotle a bit more thanks to the author's suggestion, but I must admit to doubts about his final suggestion that maybe the AI world would free the mind to seek a wiser, more creative and more virtuous life. Perhaps among those predisposed, but unlikely as genius among any populace. i recently wrote a speculative story about AI taking humans out of all forms of expression as the planet dies out from our hugely bad fossil fuel mistake. This book makes me wonder if I should balance that outlook with the fantasy that there will be an alternate group of humanist brains who do, in fact, find purpose and virtue for enough people to turn things around in time. Thank you, Simon.

Winchester at his patrician best

Sw does his typical thorough and meticulous study of this fascinating subject his vocal inflection is so listenable an engaging

Fabulous Book!

I was excited the whole time reading! So many aha! moments, I was giddy!
Thank you for this experience! I actually have a copy of Enquire Within Upon Everything coming from Amazon!

Especially relevant now

Winchester is brilliant, witty and yes, wise. The topic is covered thoroughly and with his usual keen observations.