I wish to make a few distinctions between certain concepts such as “known unknown” and “unknown known” within two different contextual frameworks. The first is between conscious content, and reality. The second is between our subconscious content and conscious content.  I don’t wish to be bogged down by the formal relation of the two, but will do a preliminary defining in a simplistic way to make the proceeding distinctions clear.

By conscious content we are referring to conscious noetic experience, this describes the content which is able to be subjectively experienced, or that which we can become aware of as content within consciousness, whether it is content of the 5 senses, or content of the mind, including; thoughts, perceptions, memories, or in general terms the mental formations we are consciously aware of (includes abstract symbolic representations, language, conceptualizations, phenomenological content).

By reality we are referencing the totality of the empirical world in its real existing, what is true about the world, and about our experience. When referring to reality, we are referring to the truth. This doesn’t mean the apparent or perceived truth, but as it truly is. If we wish to be more specific, then it must be stated that we cannot truly know this reality, as all we have to work with is our own perception of it (On “Truth” Claims). Granted, we have logical tools which point us in the right direction. In any sense, it doesn’t matter if we can accurately define reality, or the “thing-in-itself”, as we always have our own biological lenses which give us the vantage point of a separate unit. In reference to reality here, we truly mean only what “really exists” in an abstract sense, the word “reality” to be an abstract symbolic representation of what is true about the world and its contents in general (follows our prediscovered logical maxims – them being judged as accurate descriptions). By reality we mean that which is accurately depicted and recognizable by us as being constituted by objective knowledge in short, scientific knowledge, material knowledge, or even knowledge which constitutes the formation of subjective experience. It is not this objective knowledge itself, it is not the logical and rational proof, but rather the content which this is used to describe. Of course the intricacies and details of this surely could constitute a novel.

As for the subconscious we are referring here to that which is below consciousness, and is therefore not in conscious experience. It contains the unconscious personal content, such as memories, habit formations and their manifestations, in short, the aspects of our psyche which are not contained in the present moment conscious experience. It contained evolutionary aspects such as archetypes and biological drives and motives. This entails the perspective structure which filters content through a values system instantiation, which is in turn modified by, primarily, genetic factors, leading to evolved values based on our environment, cultural, and learned acquisitions. This perceptive system and its filtration of content produces data which gives rise to consciousness, which produces the conscious awareness of a certain content within the present moment. In a neurophysiological sense it is that which organizes information from internal and external data and selects through a “care” or “hierarchical importance” structure to be displayed in conscious awareness. This, of course, can be subject to a feedback loop of consciousness choosing to direct it’s Being in such a way to produce new habits, and new information to be integrated into the subconscious structure, affecting future conscious experience. The recognition and utilization of this process, is priceless. This subconscious produces the content that enters conscious moment to moment, yet also contains content which hasn’t entered into conscious awareness, or isn’t currently in conscious awareness. This content is able to be realized by consciousness as existing, but it truly acts and exists unconsciously.

A known unknown, using the relation between conscious content and reality, means that consciousness realizes that reality contains some information, yet realizes its own ignorance in regards to its content. For example, one may know that differential calculus exists, but is unaware of its contents or what the concept entails, or one may know that the sun is a star, and know that it is reacting in a way converting hydrogen to helium, and know that there is a method, but in both instances, one doesn’t know the how or why, but truly knows that it must exist, that it does exist, but its content is unknown. This is a known unknown in this relation.

An unknown known, using the relation between conscious content and reality, means that consciousness doesn’t realize what it is missing, i.e. consciousness doesn’t realize its own ignorance in regards to content in reality. Reality “knows” in that it contains some information, with which in reference to consciousness doesn’t “know” or even “know to be unknown” and thus is an unknown known. I would attempt to give an example, but if I knew one, it would be known. Say someone didn’t know algebra, and didn’t even know of its existence, or didn’t know the chemical composition of the sun, or didn’t even know that the sun existed, this would be an unknown known in this reference.

A known unknown, using the relation between conscious content and the subconscious, means that consciousness realizes that the subconscious contains some information, yet realizes its own ignorance in regards to its content. This can be in regard to cultural, societal, biological, or in general, determinate effects of prior causes acting upon the psyche. Consciousness is aware of their presence but unaware of their exact relation, thus it is a known unknown in this context. An unknown known, using the relation between conscious content and the subconscious, means that consciousness doesn’t realize what it is missing, i.e. consciousness doesn’t realize its own ignorance in regards to content in its subconscious. The subconscious “knows” in that it contains some information, with which in reference to consciousness, consciousness doesn’t “know” or even “know to be unknown” and thus is an unknown known. This contains information that is repressed, or memories or habits which are not important or stimuli not present to bring that information into conscious awareness. Habits, latent abilities, knowledge not needed in present circumstances, are all unknown knowns on this reference.