It's Ok to Say I Don't Know
Why do we have a hard time admitting ignorance?
In a world of constant, easily accessible information where knowledge is a highly valued commodity, admitting ignorance can be a frightening revelation. Saying I don’t know for some can be seen as a sign of weakness or inadequacy.
The phrase, “I don’t know” can be frightening, but being able to recognize what you don’t know can become a source of empowerment. I am not glorifying willful ignorance, but what I am saying is that understanding the limitations of our knowledge can help to encourage humility and can bring on a real connection with others around you.
Once you figure out what you don’t know you can start learning more about the world around you and about yourself as well.
Today we are looking at the importance of accepting our educational limitations and how saying "I don't know" can lead to personal as well as social growth.
Personal and professional relationships alike are based on quality communication and mutual honesty in an effort to build trust and creditability. People appreciate it when someone is upfront about their limitations, after all, we are not all-knowing supreme beings. Although some of us act like they are from time to time. To admit what you don’t know is a humble move.
We have all worked with someone who claims to know more than they do or claim to be more capable than others. This is never a good idea. This person usually gets handed too much responsibility, gets overwhelmed, and becomes toxic to the project and work environment.
When you know what you don’t know, life can get a lot easier. If you can figure it out on your own then that’s great but if you can’t, there are now plenty of resources in which you can help to improve your knowledge. The opportunity to be an autodidact is far greater today than it was even twenty years ago.
For example, YouTube is a great place to gain practical or mechanical knowledge and Google Scholar provides a simple way to look up scholarly literature.
Admitting one’s ignorance opens the door to curiosity. I enjoy not knowing everything, my mind has endless questions and then more questions. Seeking the answer to a question or being on the quest for the truth is the best part of learning. Once you have the answer, it’s kind of disappointing because the journey ends momentarily but then, on to the next question. I am pretty sure that others can relate to this endless search for knowledge.
Astrophysicist, Neil deGrasse Tyson’s view on education and knowledge is that you should never stop learning and that graduating high school or college shouldn’t be the end of your education but the beginning.
We tend to stop trying to educate ourselves after the end of formal schooling. I have a few ideas as to why this is but I don’t have a definitive answer. I had somewhat of a difficult time learning certain subjects as they are taught in our school system.
Math, for example, was always very hard for me in school, but when I started working I realized that I could do math in a practical setting better than I could ever do in school. I understand the value of learning in a formal setting, but I think that the classroom is just one of many aspects of a well-rounded education.
The way we gain knowledge today can differ greatly from country to country, but in The United States, every child is virtually educated in the same manner. A teacher in front of students teaches a standardized curriculum so that the students can gain enough knowledge to be able to pass standardized tests.
Decades ago when children were educated more at home rather than in a school setting, they gained knowledge through doing everyday activities with their parents and were often sent into an apprenticeship when they became a teenager.
Today in the digital age, admitting when you don’t know something can be critical to your overall absorption of information. In the case of misinformation when we acknowledge our uncertainty we can help to prevent the spread of false information. When you give yourself the opportunity to be informed, you become able to decern between what the real story is versus somebody’s narrative.
In our world, and especially in The United States we like to project an image of confidence and certainty, but the power of I don’t know shouldn’t be underestimated.
The inability to admit ignorance is just unfair to yourself not to mention others around you. It can place an undo amount of responsibility on your shoulders and can be detrimental to your peace of mind. The more we understand the power of this simple phrase the farther our journey of learning can take us.
Good stuff, and thank you for the kick in the pants: I need to do my own version of this soon. I grew up being encouraged to seem like I knew everything, and that was unbelievably destructive. I'm lucky to have (mostly) grown out of that phase.
It's hard to grow out of that because the ego wants to be all-knowing so we have to consciously think about being humble and that's not always an easy task.