Mahmud asked:

I have a very simple, but very tricky question. How do we know that we know?

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Well, most times we don't know we know, we just know. But sometimes, when we claim to know
something, say that Quito is the capital of Ecuador, we will give reasons for believing that we know
that. We can say things like not only did I look it up in the World Atlas, but I also looked it up in the
latest World Almanac, and to make sure I knew that Quito was the capital of Ecuador, I even went so
far as to telephone the Ecuadorean Consulate. The woman I talked to said that yes, Quito is the
capital of Ecuador.

So that is how I know that I know that Quito is the capital of Ecuador. I just accumulated more
evidence than I normally would have thought I needed.

Ken Stern