Why it's difficult to know what we don't know

 Waqar Ahmed | The Smart Perspective

Based on the Philosophical Theory of David Deutsch about the Knowledge!

One of the easiest things to do in this world is to simply fake things that you know nothing about. 

It would set you free from going back into the sources to confirm that what you said was right or wrong. 

There is a huge difference between understanding and pretending to be knowledgeable about something. 

The former is the real hard work and its drains your mental energy and the latter is just a blush.

Society these days is forced into arbitrary issues that need very simple and logical solutions yet they seem to never go away. 

Why is that? It is because micro-level issues are not that important to worry about in a common human perspective. 

As a result, these little issues compound in years to create big problems which become a serious headache to the progress.

All issues have one single root that connects them, and it also provides us the opportunity to find a solution by simply inquiring about the single most important problem, the rest would be solved naturally because they have the same route. 

What is the big problem whose solution would help in the mitigation of all other problems as well? The depth of knowing what we don’t know!

It is the most difficult issue if one were to investigate it further. 

No one knows everything about anything. Oxford physicist David Deutsch mentions that “Knowledge is the tool for correcting the errors.” 

This technique perfectly fixes the big problem we’re trying to uncover in this blog. 

When you don’t have any knowledge, you simply don’t have answers to lots of things that are happening around us.

Knowledge encounters the problem of ‘lack of understanding’. 

It gravitates human perception to focus on the universal pattern to find nuances, and then apply it in the real world to see if the change happens. 

If it brings a positive result, it means the missing knowledge gap is covered with information and now the future generation doesn’t have to find this information to solve the same problem. 

The missing information was an error that is being eradicated by acquiring the correct knowledge. 

We can know about things that we simply don’t know by applying a simple technique of “Learning.” 

Without learning, there is no information and without information, there is no such thing called knowledge. And without knowledge, we cannot solve real-world problems.

The simple example of ‘Knowledge is a tool for correcting the error’ is the current democratic system around the world. 

Now, mind it, there is no single democratic system in the world, each country has its type of democratic system. 

But the essence remains the same; it’s to elect the leader with a popular vote and serve the people in the best manner.

Democracy in reality is a belief of the mind that we can solve the problem of authoritarianism, totalitarianism, Monarchy, and other isms, by handing over the power to the masses. 

Let the majority vote and elect their leader. 

Previously, there was no such knowledge about the democratic system as it prevails today. .

So the majority had to suffer under the rule of a single powerful family.

How do we cultivate the environment of acquiring knowledge that helps bridge the gaps among nations?

With the support of criticism, we can create an environment where true scholars should be free to bring real knowledgeable solutions to our common shared errors. 

In previous centuries when Roman Empire was in charge of civilization, the decision-making was in the control of the church. 

The Church had strict monolithic governance rules and everyone was forced to submit to those terms for personal salvation. 

The theological interpretation of state under the reign of the church miserably failed to satisfy the urges of the masses. 

The church failed to meet the demands of its people because they didn’t tolerate the criticism.

Criticism is about having the capacity to tolerate opposing views about personal beliefs and opinions.

Today’s scientific society is based upon the culture of criticism. 

It allows for opposing views and quickly ameliorates if they think their opinion is incorrect. 

Criticism always brings the best out of Human consciousness.

Where there is no criticism, there is little chance of change happening there.

Always be aware of the bad actors who want to destroy the culture of criticism. 

The resistance to criticism blocks the human capacity to reason beyond what’s invisible to the eyes. And it’s dangerous. 

One must not allow such bad culture to prevail beyond the limits where it starts affecting the real world.

As David Deutsch talks about bad actors in crystal clear words, “We have the moral obligation to stay above them.” 

We need not submit to the beliefs of those who go against the values that promote the culture of criticism because it will affect human consciousness from reasoning and learning on its own.

Think, Learn, understand, and spread the word.

Thank you for your company!