"i don't know"
I stumbled upon something. You know how it is often said that the more you know, the more you realise that you don't actually know anything at all? But it doesn't explain why you feel less afraid when you know more despite your increasing awareness of how little you know. I thought of two reasons and hopefully I can be coherent with these complicated thoughts.First - when you start off not knowing anything, say for a particular topic, you feel insecure because you lack foundational knowledge. But as you slowly learn the ropes, you become more confident because of your firm foundation. In my opinion, advanced knowledge is built on basic knowledge so one will never feel insecure in the increasing awareness of one's ignorance because one has already mastered what is necessary. Second - the true value of acquiring knowledge is not to build your confidence in what you know, but to gain the confidence to acknowledge what you don't know.
It is the second reason that resonates more deeply with me. The richness of one's character is built on the honesty and humility to say "I don't know" when one really does not know.
posted by solitude @ 9:13 PM
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