From the creation of the first encyclopedia toWikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes—this is award winning writerSimon Winchester'sbrilliant & all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, & pass on information & data, & howtechnologycontinues to change our lives & 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 ourbrainsto 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 formemorization—are we risking our ability to think? As we empty our minds, will we one day be incapable of thoughtfulness?Addressing these questions,Simon Winchesterexplores how humans have attained, stored, & disseminated knowledge. Examining such disciplines aseducation, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography, & 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, & Wikipedia to the hugeVictorianassemblage of the Mundanaeum, the collection of everything ever known, currently stored in a damp basement in northernBelgium.Studded with strange & fascinating details,Knowing What We Knowis a deep dive into learning &the human mind. Throughout this fascinating tour,Winchesterforces 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? DoesRene Descartes’sCogito, 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?