In the 1980s I really liked playing the game Trivial Pursuit. It is a Canadian board game developed in the late 1970s by Chris Haney, photo editor for Montreal’s The Gazette, and Scott Abbott, sports editor for The Canadian Press. The game sold more than 100,000 copies by 1982. The competition focuses on a player’s ability to answer trivia and pop culture questions. If one was omniscient you would win every time. I did well in the game because I may not be omniscient, but I know a lot of useless information, according to Patti.
Omniscient means possessed of universal or complete knowledge. Christians describe the God revealed in the Bible as omniscient.
Omniscient is derived from the Latin roots, omnis, meaning all, every, or the whole, plus scientia, meaning accumulated knowledge, understanding, or practical mastery over a subject.
God is often described with ‘omni’ attributes. The primary attributes are omniscience, omnipotence, and omnipresence. These express God’s total knowledge, supreme power, and universal presence.
Animals that are omnivorous eat both plants and meat to get their energy. Bears, pigs, and raccoons are omnivorous mammals. Omnivorous birds include crows, chickens, and ducks.
Omniscient can refer to people other than just God. Someone having infinite awareness, understanding, or insight can be labelled as omniscient.
Sometimes books have an omniscient narrator who shares what every character thinks and feels. When Jane Austen (1775-1817) wrote Pride and Prejudice she used an omniscient voice who knows the inner workings of Elizabeth Bennet and other characters. In A Tale of Two Cities Charles Dickens (1812-1870) had an omniscient chronicler to share historical information. C.S. Lewis (1898-1963) employed an omniscient narrator in The Chronicles of Narnia who speaks to the reader about the plot.
TV shows have made use of an omniscient speaker to provide viewers with context and foreshadowing. Ron Howard was the omniscient voice in Arrested Development (2003-2006) who corrected lies, explained family history, and made fun of the chaos of the Bluth family. Desperate Housewives (2004-2012) used the voice of Brenda Strong, as the omniscient Mary Alice Young (from beyond the grave) to reveal scandalous secrets about her former neighbours.
In the movie Shawshank Redemption (1994) Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding, played and voice by Morgan Freeman, provides an omniscient voice that looks back at the past even while remaining a limited human observer in the present.
There are fears that AI computers may develop so quickly that they may provide omniscient watching and knowing of all people. However, AI does not have absolute facts from an omniscient mind but guesses patterns that can generate false and misleading information. HAL, in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) seemed omniscient but was not all-knowing.
Know-it-alls are people who believe they possess expert knowledge on every topic. But, no human is omniscient. And though there may be those who believe that they are omniscient, we can only hope they take the humble road and keep it to themselves.
Columnist John Kreutzwieser loves to research words and has an interest in the usage, origin, and relevance of words for society today. Greek and Latin form the basis of many words, with ancient Hebrew shedding light on word usage.
John would like to know if anyone has a sincere interest in a relevant word that he could possibly research for an upcoming column. If so, please send your requests to wordwisdom2021@gmail.com. Words will be selected according to relevance and research criteria. We cannot confirm that all words will be used.
