There are few more powerful phrases one can utter than “I don’t know.”
Many societies disincentivize the admission of ignorance, equating it to stupidity or inability. And the more mastery we achieve, the more we’re pressured—overtly or covertly—to avoid appearing to not know something, anything, about our field (or fields) of focus.
This unfortunately tends to stifle growth and evolution. It keeps us from questioning and growing throughout our lives.
Even if we’re unable to find answers to our questions, acknowledging that we don’t know something can set us upon a path that is, unto itself, valuable: an answer-seeking journey of discovery that can help us increase our overall capabilities, capacities, and understanding. But such journeys only take place if we’re able to admit we don’t know something.
Many of us are brought up with certain beliefs about how the world functions, and overcoming those pre-implanted notions can be a lifetime’s work. Work that only begins when we admit to ourselves that we don’t necessarily know some of the things we think we know.
Over the years, I’ve found that I’m more likely to admit my own ignorance and productively question my existing convictions when I allow myself a moment to stop and think about new information as I’m exposed to it.
This gives me the chance to really soak up what I’m learning, rather than leaving it to chance that I’ll remember later. It also gives me a dedicated few seconds to parse what I’m hearing so I can filter it for both nonsense and truthfulness, and decide how it resonates or clashes with other things I think I know.
An acknowledgement of ignorance doesn’t mean never knowing, or not being able to know: it means not knowing right now.
It doesn’t mean that we don’t know anything: it means that we’ve got plenty left to learn—that we’ve yet to reach our full potential, capacity, and capability.
Not knowing something says very little about a person, but the humility to acknowledge one’s own ignorance says quite clearly, “I don’t know yet, but I can learn.”