How can we know that we have been taught all there is to know about any particular subject at school or university?
by 
RhythmBoy
ANSWERS: 5
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Short answer, you can't.
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We can't. Depending on how narrow you want to make the criteria, I would argue that there is always more to learn and new discoveries to make in any given subject. As an example, History is always being made so there are new twists and turns, maths has many theorems that require ultimate proofs - as yet not forthcoming, English is a live and dynamic language with new words constantly appearing. Unless you narrow down in a subject you will find new areas to explore.
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You cannot. All teaching involves some level of simplification. Knowledge is always being "withheld" in order to simplify the problem enough to learn. You learn only Newtonian Physics in secondary education - Relativity is "withheld" from you. They you learn Special Relativity, but General Relativity is withheld. Then you learn General Relativity - but only as it applies over long distance and lower fields where Quantum Mechanics doesn't apply. But they are not withholding the knowledge if Quantum Relativity, because they don't understand it yet: Nature is withholding the information. If you are searching for Absolute Truth, you will have a long search. No-one has found it yet, and there is no sign of them finding it. All truths are partial truths, so you are always trusting to the honesty and wisdom of those telling the truth. Ultimately, you must cross-check various sources to see if they agree: the more different sources which say the same thing, the more likely it is to be true.
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Actually, you can be sure that you're not being taught all there is to know. So there, some certainty about something...!
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The answer for me is in a quote from one of my favorite movies; "How far down the rabbit hole would you like to go?" Can anyone name this movie?
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