Don’t let ignorance about ignorance be a problem for you. Too often, we view ignorance as a slur, something synonymous with “stupid” or “irrational.” Given this negative connotation, it is not surprising that so many people reflexively ignore or deny gaps in their knowledge. But failing to face up to our ignorance and pretending to know things we don’t know is a bad habit.
We all navigate our lives within a vast universe-sized ocean of things we know nothing about. No matter how many books we read and how much formal education we accumulate, the best we can hope for is the quickest of glimpses in the general direction of what is knowable. Ignorance is inevitable; therefore humility is vital.
To make things more challenging, our minds are susceptible to biases that can cause us to misperceive our own ignorance. It is crucial to understand the Dunning-Kruger effect and keep it in mind. It describes the common tendency we have to overestimate our knowledge or competence. The bias blind spot is another cognitive plague everyone should be aware of and consciously push back against. We tend to recognize how biases impact the thinking of others more easily than we see it in ourselves (Pronin, et al 2002). These are not aberrations. They seem to be normal human settings. So don’t be normal. Rise above them as best you can.
Let’s consider popular UFO excitement as a representative example of how ignoring, denying, or........