Ignorance is defined simply as a “lack of knowledge or information”. It becomes very powerful if you’re able to recognize where it applies to you.
In his book “Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow“, author Yuval Noah Harari explains the power of ignorance and how it changed the world:
“The greatest scientific discovery was the discovery of ignorance. Once humans realized how little they knew about the world, they suddenly had a very good reason to seek new knowledge, which opened up the scientific road to progress.”
It wasn’t long ago that I shared similar thoughts from Warren Buffett, where simply knowing where your blind spots are can keep you out of a lot of trouble.
As time goes by, I try to be very aware of my areas of ignorance, and take appropriate action.
Sometimes that action is to ignore it. I know I’m very unqualified to fix issues with my car, but that’s ok — I’ll pay others for their expertise.
More often, though, I’ll work to make myself more knowledgeable in that area to the degree that is appropriate.
- That degree may just be a little bit, so perhaps reading a book on the subject, or adding some cards in Anki will do the trick.
- In other cases, it’s an area where I greatly want to improve my skills, so I’ll put in the time to make it happen.
It’s all irrelevant if you can’t see the ignorance in the first place. Confidence can be powerful, but knowing where your circle of darkness begins is an amazing skill to have.
