I once studied philosophy, and psychology. Yeah, I was in college. So, what? Well, Socrates said this thing that not having knowledge, that understanding the depths of one's ignorance, is actually the first place for getting anywhere. See, that's a nice statement, but virtually our entire code of attitude and behavior is linked to asserting our rightness, and post-facto explanations for our behavior. To wit, we assert, without evidence, and with no real need except to feel better, that we know all sorts of reasons that we have no idea about. All the time. It is the norm.
It garners attention, and when knowledge is faked with enough confidence, gets us places. It is a perverse incentive, genetics and careerism. And the point is that to be really careful, we do have to keep asserting, especially for those things we think are manifestly evident, that we might not have the fully accurate picture. Unfortunately, learning isn't always blissful. It is hard. Emotionally hard.
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