"There are unknown unknowns" - the epistemological insights of Donald Rumsfeld

In a Department of Defense news briefing on February 12, 2002, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was asked about the lack of evidence linking the Iraqi government with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups. Rumsfeld famously answered the question: 

Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.

The language is a bit arduous, but the implications for the classification of knowledge are sound.  Here is a clarification of Rumsfeld's epistemological categories:

1) Known knowns

2) Known unknowns

3) Unknown unknowns

Embracing this approach, we can tease out a few more categories, thus:

1) Known knowns

2) Known unknowns

3) Unknown unknowns

4) Unknown knowns (things we know but we don't know we know them)

5) Feelings we think about

6) Feelings we don't think about.

7) Feelings we know we have

8) Feelings we don't know we have

The analyses of 4, 5, 6, 7 & 8 are of especial interest to theologians, poets, fictioneers and mythicists.  Click HERE for an overview and a discussion of possible approaches for "tapping into" things we don't know we know, which begins with our feelings.  A more Calvinist (rather, a small-c calvinist, or, better still, post-Calvinist) approach to investigating such feelings can be found HERE.  

Casting our net more broadly, we can find further hints and procedures in theology; nor should we be surprised in this. In one consideration, theology is thinking about things we don't know about in reasonable and psychologically (and ethically) profitable ways. The idea is to think in new ways, of course, but also to do so reasonably and sensibly. Please click HERE and HERE.

Donald Rumsfeld