IGNORANCE !

Most of the time we think that the biggest obstacle to knowledge and human development is “ignorance“, but the great scientist Stephen Hawking explains that thinking “I know” is more dangerous than ignorance.

Ignorance is not a bad or harmful thing in itself. Moreover, if you sincerely believe that you don’t know something, your mind will be open and ready to receive new information and learning, this situation can be the beginning of deep knowledge. Because a person who says “I don’t know this matter” has a great desire and willingness to learn something new, ignorance serves as a “clean and open void” that can easily be cured by education and knowledge.

On the contrary, the nightmare of knowledge is the biggest enemy of our thinking and decision making. Thinking “I know” something without understanding and researching it makes our brain close the door of receiving new and accurate information. An ignorant person can politely ask something that is not clear to him. But a person who is in the nightmare of knowledge can make dangerous decisions on himself and others based on insufficient and wrong information.

According to psychology, the “Danning-Kruger effect”, people who have very little knowledge about a subject tendency to brag and “know everything” more than professionals. This also comes from the lack of depth and maturity in the matter, but when we continue to know and investigate the matter diligently, we begin to understand how vast, deep and complex the knowledge is.

The greatest life lesson we can take from Stephen Hawking is that no matter what stage we are in, humility, always willing to learn something new. Whatever level of knowledge or authority we reach, we should never forget that we are “eternal learners”, even the beliefs we firmly believe as “I am always right”. Maybe I am wrong? “We must be ready to ask boldly. Ignorance leads to higher growth and deep knowledge with the sincere attitude of “I don’t know, teach me”, but the nightmare of knowledge leads us to stagnation, confusion, and error with the stubbornness of “I know everything, don’t tell me”.

Great scientists and researchers enter into deep research and discovery with the humble saying “we know that we have dropped a few pebbles from the shore of the ocean”

When we proudly think that we have known something and everything, we immediately stop learning and growing. Understanding that knowledge is a vast ocean without end and shore, we can only protect ourselves from the enemy of knowledge or nightmares if we are always curious and inquiring. True wisdom is not found in the amount of information we have, but in the level of understanding we have in front of the vast knowledge we have not yet understood.

By always being humble, examining old beliefs with new information and asking profound questions, we can build a mind that is open to knowledge every day.