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The Knowledge Uncertainty Principle in Biomedical Sciences

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Abstract

According to the Knowledge Uncertainty Principle described in Sect. 5.2.7, all knowledge is uncertain (including physical, chemical, biological, mathematical, pharmacological, toxicological, medical, and philosophical knowledge), which agrees with the views expressed by many thinkers throughout the ages (Sect. 5.2.5). What is new in this book is the idea of quantitating the degree of uncertainty of a knowledge using what is referred to as the Kosko entropy or SK in Sect. 5.2.7. A knowledge with SK = 1 is least certain and that with SK = 0 is 100% certain, which is thought to be beyond human capacity as indicated by Inequality 5.26. A knowledge has been defined as the ability to answer a question or solve a problem (Sect. 5.2.7). These ideas will be illustrated using the Nrf2 signaling pathway in toxicology as an example.

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Correspondence to Sungchul Ji PhD .

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Ji, S. (2012). The Knowledge Uncertainty Principle in Biomedical Sciences. In: Molecular Theory of the Living Cell. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2152-8_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2152-8_20

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