We’re tempted at times to think the size of a word is directly proportionate to its real-life irrelevance. The longer the word—we think—the less relevant to my life. And I guess at times that’s true. But there are some words that are extremely relevant. For instance, Orthomyxoviridae doesn’t seem very relevant unless you were up all night with the symptoms of the virus also known as the flu.

Epistemology is like that. We may not know that’s what’s causing the discomfort, but we sure do feel the discomfort. This four part series of posts (beginning tomorrow) was originally posted in my personal blog, and I’ve edited it slightly to be posted here because I really believe that this concept is at the root of many other “symptoms.” It’s fairly simple—perhaps at times simplistic—but I trust it will be thought-provoking and perhaps helpful.