在驳论的第一段,作者就举例子说明知识的有限性并不一定意味着各行各业的人就必须汲取其他方面的知识,恰恰相反,对于医生、律师或企业家来说意识到了自我知识的有限,并且寻求方法去适应调和这一有限性反而是必要的。
Moreover, the additional knowledge we gain by collecting more information often diminishes-sometimes to the point where marginal gains turn to marginal losses. Consider, for instance, the collection of financial- investment information. No amount of knowledge can eliminate the uncertainty and risk inherent in financial investing. Also, information overload can result in confusion, which in turn can diminish one's ability to assimilate information and apply it usefully. Thus, by recognizing the limits of their knowledge, and by accounting for those limits when making decisions, investment advisors can more effectively serve their clients.
作者进一步通过金融投资业信息的赘余的危害性来驳斥原文的观点。
On the other hand, the speaker's assertion seems self-contradictory, for how can we know the limits of our knowledge until we've thoroughly tested those limits through exhaustive empirical observation--that is, by acquiring facts and information. For example, it would be tempting to concede that we can never understand the basic forces that govern all matter in the universe. Yet due to increasingly precise and extensive fact- finding efforts of scientists, we might now be within striking distance of understanding the key laws by which all physical matter behaves. Put another way, the speaker's assertion flies in the face of悍然不顾,公然违抗the scientific method, whose fundamental tenet is that we humans can truly know only that which we observe. Thus Francis Bacon, who first formulated the method, might assert that the speaker is fundamentally incorrect.
说实话,我觉得这一段里,作者玩了一个诡辩的小伎俩:先是指出原文观点的自相矛盾性,然后引出自己的看法——认识论远重要于获取新的事实和信息,也就是要“先认识知识和理解力的局限然后才是摄取新知。”