Do you think you know more than you don’t know? Is it better to know something rather than being ignorant? How often are you in the dark?
Share why if you wish.
Category: Knowledge
When Was The Last Time You Said ‘I Don’t Know’?
Admitting that you don’t know something can be embarrassing. As a result, many people pretend they know something even when they don’t. When was the last time you said ‘I don’t know’?
Share why if you wish.
Does Knowledge Have Inherent Value?
Knowing information can help in a variety of different ways. But does learning have value, even if you don’t use that knowledge in any way?
Kids attend school in their formative years, because learning is key to success. (Some kids don’t thrive in a formal learning situation, but that’s not important for this discussion.)
How is learning important?
For one, you have greater control over your situation. Knowledge helps you make better decisions, because you know more about how things work together, and how they fit into the world.
It also helps to not have to reinvent the wheel. There have been billions of people who have walked the earth before us, and in many cases, their knowledge is passed along to us. We can learn from their mistakes; no need to make them ourselves.
And learning can be fun. Experiencing an ‘Aha!’ moment when things click into place and you understand something for the first time feels good. Our brains evolved to solve problems, so using our big brains for their intended purpose feels right.
But what happens if you strip all that away?
A common complaint heard by teachers is “When am I going to use this?” And certainly, it is hard to accurately predict when something you learn might come in handy. You might very well be surprised at how often you call upon something seemingly unrelated in your life.
But what if it never comes? If you learn something that you cannot use in any way, is it still valuable? Or does knowledge only have meaning and utility in the way that it is applied?
Related questions: How do you learn? What’s the most useful thing you’ve ever learned? Why are we fascinated with the unknown? How do we know what we don’t know?
What Is Your Deepest Rabbit Hole?
Everyone has rabbit holes — the searching of some random bit of information that leads to more and more esoteric bits of data. What notable rabbit hole have you gone down?
Share why if you wish.
How Do You Deal With Uncertainty?
Being in an uncertain situation can be extremely frustrating. Is there a way you have learned to deal with uncertainty?
Human beings, generally, feel more in control — and therefore, more comfortable — the more they know about something. In fact, that urge has been behind much of the development of science and technology over the last few hundred years. Wanting to know more, about how the world works and ways to modify it, is something that comes naturally to our species.
While this is true at a societal level, it is also true at an individual level as well. The more information we have, the more in control we feel.
For example, someone who has been diagnosed with a disease will often learn everything they can about it. Even very complicated systems, like the stock market or the political realm, people will study in great detail, trying to gain an edge.
In reality, knowing more does not always confer an advantage. So-called experts do not have a better record predicting the future than anyone else. There are plenty of examples of a basketball novice finishing ahead of a diehard fan in March Madness brackets, for instance.
There are certain times and certain situations that are completely out of your control. In that case, what do you do? Can you learn to embrace the uncertainty? Or instead, are there methods to feel more in control of an inherently uncontrollable scenario?
Related questions: What is unknowable? Why are we fascinated with the unknown? How do we know what we don’t know? Why don’t you know what makes you happy?