I was having lunch with a friend the other day when it dawned on me that my friend had no idea what he was talking about. He, of course, thought that he knew exactly what he was talking about. He had no idea that he was, and I am sure still is, completely ignorant about the topic of discussion. What do you do in a situation like this? Is it rude to say to that person, “Hey, you have no idea what you are talking about”? So, if that is rude, I assume that it is just better to allow that person to think that he does have a clue when really he doesn’t? I must admit, I don’t know!
But I do know this much. “I know what I know and I know what I don’t know.” See, this is what I really think. People need to re-read this quote and then seriously consider all that it is saying.
I know what I know, and I know as much about those things as I can, so that if they ever come up in conversation I can speak as intelligently as I can about them. But I also know what I don’t know. I realize that there are plenty of things that I am ignorant about. I know this, I accept this, and I don’t try to talk about them and waste everyone’s time.
To make this very clear, for anyone having trouble grasping this concept, it’s like this. Figure out what it is you know; figure out what it is you don’t know. Talk about the things you know and for the sake of all mankind, please shut up about the things you don’t know.