Knowledge of Your Ignorance Is Superpower — Learning From Our Blindspots

So many of us are terrified of being wrong.

We’ve all been through those awkward situations where someone has called out our insecurities or asked a probing question, and we froze like an ant on a hot sidewalk.

It’s not that we don’t want to be right; it’s just that when you look at the magnitude of how much we don’t know, it can paralyze us with fear.

As much as we would like to believe otherwise, there is absolutely no way for humans to know everything.

All we can ever do is try our best and hold ourselves accountable for the decisions we make based on the information available to us at that time.

If you have never gone through this process before, now might be a good time to give it a go! Face your ignorance and learn from your blindspots.

It’s scary but also liberating when you face your ignorance.

“Being ignorant is not so much a shame, as being unwilling to learn,” Benjamin Franklin once said.

Our understanding of the world and ourselves is always evolving as new information emerges through learning or personal experience.

The first step towards understanding your ignorance is coming to terms with it. Instead of running away from uncertainty, acknowledge it and be prepared to improve your worldviews consistently.

The ability to face your ignorance will help you take the necessary steps towards attaining wisdom, which is the ultimate goal of our existence.

Wisdom is the ability to know what you don’t know.

It is being self-aware, knowing your strengths and limitations, being able to adjust accordingly, learning from mistakes and growing as a person. It’s possessing an attitude of openness and curiosity towards new ideas and situations.

Wisdom is being wise in the right places, at the right times.

Choose curiosity over certainty

“One of the most important lessons I’ve learned as an astronaut: to value the wisdom of humility, as well as the sense of perspective it gives you,” writes Chris Hadfield, in his book, “An Astronaut’s Guide To Life On Earth”.

The extent of your ignorance is a matter of degree; however, it’s important to understand just how much there is still to learn. This realization can inspire humility and can also motivate you to seek out knowledge and experience.

Always assume you don’t completely understand what you think you know. It will create more opportunities to learn and understand topics, concepts and ideas better.

Knowledge of what you don’t know raises your self-awareness and curiosity to learn. It makes you think like a scientist — ready to learn and discover new things.

When you think like a scientist, “you look for reasons why you might be wrong, not just reasons why you must be right. You listen to ideas that make you think hard, not just the ones that make you feel good,” says Adam Grant, author of Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don’t Know.

People who know their blindspots have a well-developed sense of judgment when making decisions. They may not always make the right decision (trust your gut), but you have sound judgment most of the time.

They don’t make rash decisions under pressure without thoroughly evaluating all possible outcomes. This is called delayed gratification; you hold something back until spending it on something else is worthwhile.

Being wise also means developing a personal philosophy or worldview along with all the other positive characteristics it encompasses.

Knowledge is finite; ignorance is infinite

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.” ― Daniel J. Boorstin

To cultivate wisdom, we must first acknowledge our own ignorance.

The lack of wisdom comes from mistaking knowledge for wisdom, assuming that just because we know something means we are better than others who don’t know it yet or those who may never know it because they aren’t interested in learning more about it.

True wisdom is knowledge of your ignorance. Truly wise people are unapologetically honest with themselves. They know their limitations and don’t overestimate themselves or underestimate their capabilities either.

Wisdom is accepting that it might not matter what you think or believe; what matters most is what evidence there is for those beliefs.

Wisdom is the willingness to change your beliefs and assumptions when you come across new evidence and keep an open mind about new possibilities.

Our beliefs, assumptions and perceptions can easily stand in the way of our best lives. When you have wisdom, you can see the world from multiple perspectives and learn from that experience.

Always remember what Richard P. Feynman once said when ego becomes an obstacle, “The first principle is that you must not fool yourself and you are the easiest person to fool.”

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This post was previously published on MEDIUM.COM.

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