Potentially You and Me (Two Truths and a Lie)

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

"Knowledge verses belief. What is the difference? Is there a difference?" Professor Collins bellows, his voice bouncing off the walls. Out of all my classes I would say philosophy is the hardest, yet the most fascinating.

It really makes you think and then you question not only what your thinking, but how you're even thinking in the first place.

"Can there be false knowledge, or must it all be true?" I draw a swirl in the corner of my paper while feeling Trent's eyes. Let's just say since I ran off yesterday I haven't really spoken to him. "Yes, Ms. Bennett." Professor Collins points to a girl with her hand raised and sitting towards the back.

"I don't think knowledge can be false because we all have different perspectives."

Professor Collins nods taking a step towards the left side of the room before turning back to us with a raised brown. "Different beliefs?" He takes a few more strides. "So that brings us back to the original question. Is knowledge the same thing as belief?"

"It's not. Knowledge is facts and facts are proven," Someone else calls out and Professor Collins holds his finger up.

"Yes, that is true if you're suggesting science, but what about history? We base our knowledge of history on not only primary sources, but also years and years of research. Solid research, but at the same time we could be wrong, so is history really knowledge, or is it just a belief?"

Some kid barks out a laugh. "We're here, aren't we?"

Professor Collins smiles along with him. "Yes, but how we got here—that is the question." I stop drawing my spiral seeing as I had expanded it to the lines of the paper, but I quickly start crossing it out because it's the only way to distract myself from Trent's unwavering gaze. "What about you, Mr. Montgomery?" My pen drops from my hand as some heads whip in our direction. "What are your thoughts on knowledge? Do you believe it is all true?" Professor Collins leans back against his desk with a knowing smile on his lips and that only makes my heart thump a little harder against my ribcage. He only called on Trent because he caught him staring at me.

Trent's eyes stay on me for an extra second before he meets Professor Collins' gaze and he clears his throat.

"I think knowledge can't be true, or false because we as people don't even know what knowledge is. We just have it."

Professor Collins grins and says, "that is an excellent point," before turning to addresses the rest of the class. "You see for as long as philosophers have been around, since Plato and Socrates, knowledge has been something they have studied, and today, still don't know the answers to. Of course it's strange to think about because, like Mr. Montgomery pointed out, we all have knowledge, so why even question it? But what philosophers try to figure out is what the limit is to it. What's the limit of human knowledge? What's the limit of knowledge and what's mere belief? It's definitely hard to wrap your brain around." He pauses and glances up at the clock above the door before turning back to us. "Alright, well, I guess that's all we have time for today. So," He rubs his hands together and walks behind his desk, "as outlined by your syllabus, for next week I want you to pick a Greek philosopher and research their beliefs of human knowledge and write an essay on how it compares to what other philosophers believe today. Class dismissed." He waves his hand and everyone stretches before packing up their things.

I close my notebook and hook my pen on the end of the spiral before standing up. I walk down the risers and go to grab the door from someone, but Trent beats me to it.

"Are you mad at me? Because I swear I didn't mean for that to happen the other night. I would've walked you back to your dorm after the first movie if you wanted to, but I just wanted you to stay a little longer—"