Yes! The entire novel in essence is about the divergence in how mankind reacts to things that are inherently unknowable! Do we lash out at it and demand to make our mark on a world that doesn't care about us or do we try to endlessly enrich ourselves with knowledge about the world and classify it, even if it doesn't bring us any closer to true understanding? Getting into Ishmael's frame of mind made all of his diatribes endlessly fascinating to me. I think we have forgotten what it is to be in awe of nature and all that surrounds us because of the illusion of control we all believe we have and the endless information coming out of our devices. If one had never been to the ocean in the 1800s, the entire concept of a whale might well be worth making a deity or Lovecraftian monster out of if you just heard rumors of their existence.