Is Columbus’ way of knowing better than our way of knowing?

First off I want to define the meaning “way of knowing.” Columbus’ way of knowing, his way of obtaining knowledge, was mostly guess work and bravery. In his day an explorer would take what was known about the world – which wasn’t much – and then with great courage set out to test the limits of that knowledge. Our way of knowing is mostly through science and advanced technology. So is Columbus’ way of knowing “better” than our way. I would have to answer “no.” Columbus had some knowledge and little accuracy. He was operating from guesses. He had star charts and assumptions to steer by as he explored, but he wasn’t very accurate. Obviously today we have much more accurate information available to us than Columbus’ did, and we have more knowledge on which to base decisions .Today we have hypotheses to test from and to test those hypotheses we have much better equipment that will lead to more accurate results, thus eliminating the need to operate from guesses. Let’s use the example of exploring the oceans. What Columbus did was based on guess work and anecdotal evidence and primitive tools. He was at the mercy of the winds and his limited knowledge, and didn’t know what he would encounter once he set out. Today, our knowledge and our way of obtaining knowledge are far superior. When we explore the ocean we have sophisticated equipment with which to do our exploring and send probes and cameras ahead of human beings so that we know what we will encounter. There was so little of the world that was known to Columbus and there is so little of the world that is unknown to us. We are a little like Columbus as we explore space, but even there our way of knowing is better and more accurate. We are able to send unmanned probes ahead of men to see what we will encounter. We know how to navigate with very sophisticated equipment and so forth. So, I believe our way of knowing is “better” than Columbus’. However, in some ways Columbus was more of a true explorer, because he didn't know what lay ahead of him, but he did it anyway. Today our exploring - in medicine, oceanography, space, genetics - is more accurate than anything in Columbus’ day, but it is a much safer and less adventurous type of exploration.