It is often easier to settle for an understanding of the world and the people around us rather than trying to know the truth. The truth has consequences; by knowing too much, you can 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 fridge magnets with 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 "know" means to be absolutely certain or certain of something. There is certainly a difference, as 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. However, the only survivors of this catastrophe are those who, on the contrary, know more than they understand. This means that Crake, Oryx, and Jimmy have an astute understanding of the world around them, but only later does Snowman and the Crakers show the importance of knowledge to surviving as a species. Crake believes he knows the problems of mankind and that he also knows the solutions. He views humanity as destructive, inefficient, and dissatisfied, and uses his understanding of these flaws to destroy the human race. His scientific background leads him to very accurately understand 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 the paper ... view as a newfound ability to know more than they understand, suggesting that the success of humans as a species may depend on never achieving (or never achieving) a full understanding. Perhaps we should accept simple knowledge as a principle. Works Cited Atwood, Margaret. Oryx and Crake. 1st ed. New York, New York/United States: First Anchor Books, 2004. 374. Print.Davis, Roger. ""a man's white illusion": Snowman, survival and speculation in Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake." Hosting the Monster. Ed. Holly Lynn Baumgarter. 1st ed. New York, New York/United States: Rodopi, 2008. 260. Web. May 28, 2012. DiMarco, Danette. “Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained: Homo Faber and the Ingredients of a New Beginning in Oryx and Crake.” Papers on Language & Literature 41 (2005): page n. Network. May 27, 2012.Reizner, Chelsea. "Fridge magnets." (2007): Network. Mar. 2012.