things you don’t know
“The most important thing about a person is always the thing you don’t know.”
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Barbara Kingsolver
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This is about Curiosity … and self <or .. the search for understanding yourself>.
Oh.
And perpetually being dissatisfied with what you know <or think you know>.
Most people have these three things high on their list of things that they say <and think>:
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“I know that person <and how they think>.”
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“I know that answer.”
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“I know what to do.”
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And, yet, I think most decision makers know … or at least understand … that it really isn’t about what you know … it is about what you don’t know.
Sigh.
Unfortunately … most people are stuck on ‘I know’ <even when it is ‘think’ instead of ‘know’>.
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“Thinking is more interesting than knowing, but less interesting than looking.”
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Goethe
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More philosophically I imagine this issue is a lack of ability to accept the difference between the truth … and what we wish were true. And this is especially with regard to ourselves.
Why?
Maybe it is hard to accept that we actually know less than what we not only think we know …. But what we think we SHOULD know.
Maybe it is hard to accept that someone will always know more than we do <even on the topic we know the most about – yikes!>.
Maybe it is hard to accept that we will always need to know more than what we know now.
Maybe it is hard to accept that ‘knowing’, or learning, is a bucket that can never be completely filled.
Maybe it is hard to accept that actual thinking is better than knowing.
Maybe it is hard to accept that knowing, or what you know, is relatively fleeting … and thinking has no real end.
Maybe it is hard to accept that the act of looking is actually more interesting than thinking itself <although I could argue that thinking & looking are so inextricably intertwined that they are almost one & the same>.
Maybe it is hard to accept that what you do not know about a person is more important than what you may know <and it is ABSOLUTELY hard to accept that what you know about a person today may not be true tomorrow – as they evolve and change>.
Uhm.
And maybe that leads me to the most crucial thought.
Maybe it is hard to accept that what you do not know about yourself is more important than what you may think you know about yourself.
Whew.
What you do not know about yourself?
Well.
This unsettling thought gets balanced out <positively> in that curiosity is a powerful trait <and often an innate desire>.
And, yet, let’s admit … there are some things we don’t want to be curious about … we want to know some things.
Particularly when it comes to self-type things.
This translates into the fact that at our core … not knowing yourself … or thinking you don’t know more than what you do know about yourself is … well … unsettling.
Really unsettling.
And I would argue that last thought does more to drive “I know that person <and how they think>” & “I know that answer” &“I know what to do” behavior than anything else.
When you don’t know as much about yourself to feel comfortable about yourself … well … you will seek to showcase knowledge elsewhere.
It’s kind of a natural instinct.
But.
It’s a bad natural instinct.
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“We carry within us the wonders we seek without us.”
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Thomas Browne
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Thomas Browne was a proponent of exploring ‘self.’ And in the self exploration in finding the good, the bad … and the value of the search itself <regardless of what is found>.
In general. In Life.
Not knowing shit is not bad.
In general, in personal Life, about understanding oneself.
Not knowing shit is not bad.
Unsettling … but not bad.
Now.
What is bad is ‘not seeking.’
The most important things in Life are the things you don’t know … not the things you do know.
That is sometimes a hard thing to accept.
Maybe it would be easier to accept if we could focus on the search for the wonders within us.
Sigh.
I fear we seek more in Life than seeking … we enjoy finding too much to simply enjoy seeking.
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