It is often easier to settle for an understanding of the world and the people around us instead of trying to know the truth. The truth has consequences; knowing too much can cause you to lose a friend, learn a deadly secret, or become someone you don't want to be. To express his understanding of himself and the world around him, Crake in Oryx and Crake uses refrigerator magnets bearing quotes. A very important quote is “We understand more than we know”. It is important to recognize the difference between the terms “understand” and “know”; The Oxford English Dictionary defines “understand” as perceiving the meaning, explanation, or cause of, while “to know” means to be absolutely certain or sure of something. There is certainly a difference, in that understanding suggests ideas and knowledge suggests facts. Before Crake's devastation of the human race in Oryx and Crake, the characters understand more than they know in their awareness of human nature. But the only survivors of this catastrophe are those who, conversely, know more than they understand. This means that Crake, Oryx, and Jimmy have an astute understanding of the world around them, but it is not until later that Snowman and the Crakers show the importance of knowledge to surviving as a species. Crake believes he knows humanity's problems and also has the solutions. He views humanity as destructive, ineffective, and unfulfilled, and uses his understanding of these flaws to destroy the human race. His scientific training leads him to understand very precisely the biological and psychological characteristics of the human mind and body, of humanity as a whole, but also specifically of his friend Jimmy. Crake understands physical attraction and sex from a strictly... middle of article... point of view how a new ability to know more than they understand, suggesting that the success of humans as he species may depend on never reaching (or never reaching) complete understanding. Perhaps we should accept the simple fact of knowing as a principle. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. 1st ed. New York, New York/USA: First Anchor Books, 2004. 374. Print. Davis, Roger. "'A White Illusion of a Man': Snowman, Survival, and Speculation in Margaret Atwood's 'Oryx and Crake.'" Harboring the Monster. Ed. Holly Lynn Baumgarter. 1st ed. New York, New York/USA: Rodopi, 2008. 260. Web. May 28, 2012. DiMarco, Danette. “Paradice Lost, Paradise Regained: Homo Faber and the beginnings of a new beginning in Oryx and Crake.” Articles on Language and Literature 41 (2005): n.pag. Internet. May 27, 2012.Reizner, Chelsea. “Fridge magnets.” (2007): Web. Mar. 2012.