I Don't Know.
The power, the leverage, the epistemological clarity, the strategic value, the style & dignity, the surprising truths, and the simple peace of mind that flow from knowing what you don't know.
Previously, I enjoyed having Amy Nasir join me for an episode of Life On Earth With Robert & Amy Nasir, on "When The Hero & The Villain Are The Same Guy" ... and Amy and I continued the conversation on Sunday on Five Minutes With Robert & Amy Nasir ... and in the Five Tips I gave … available online at http://RobertNasir.com/shownotes … my TIP NUMBER THREE in defending your heroes was:
3. You should be able to explain why they're your heroes, and not be taken aback when people with different evaluations and value hierarchies don't agree. Disagreement in specific, concrete instances is NOT an assault on you, your values, nor your moral stature. Let them disagree; so long as you're rational, that's no chip off your shoulder. But don’t let them cause you to doubt your values.
_________________________________________
And so, that led to a review of Mary Ann Sures “Copper Pot” story ... the bottom line of which was that you've got to stand up for your values, even when your knowledge or certainty are not fully complete.
_________________________________________
Before this episode, in the chat, Dr. Meghann Ribbens shared:
"My favorite quotation from my grad advisor: 'The three most important words in the English language are: I love you. The second three most important words are: I don't know.'"
_________________________________________
That's all kinds of awesome ... and a few of those kinds are our topic today.
Everything is finite. As Objectivists, or even just as Aristotelians, we know this philosophically; it's an aspect of the law of identity. Everything is finite. Including the breadth of my (and your) knowledge.
I know what I know, and that's all that I know.
But I do know what I know.
_________________________________________
That's what I would normally emphasize here ... I do know what I know, and the finite nature of consciousness doesn't diminish that.
I know what I know.
_________________________________________
But what about the things "I Don't Know"?
"I don't know" is MOTIVATING ... if you don't know, but you could, should, need to, want to! In that case, it's a call to action!
And then there's case of what you don't know, and have no reason to know.
Classic joke: what's the difference between ignorance and apathy? I don't know, and I don't care.
There's a lot I have no reason to know.
_________________________________________
In a Forbes essay entitled “The Value of ‘I Don't Know’,” the writer asks:
"Do you value possessing knowledge over making a considered decision?"
Well, there's a lot to say here, but most important is the integration of fact & value ... and the foolhardiness of false bravado.
The real question is, what's more important ... the reality, or the appearance of knowing more than you do?
And there's a lot I CAN'T know ... everything is finite.
_________________________________________
Don Watkins, in his recent posts following the release at OCON of his new volume, Effective Egoism, has been responding on X/Twitter to some of the folks over at Daily Wire, who've been surprisingly explicit lately in declaring that only religion provides a source for morality.
People like Andrew Klaven and Matt Walsh latch onto the old notion of a God-Shaped Hole.
The God-shaped hole is the notion that there is, or feels like there is, a missing piece of us, a piece of our consciousness and our world view, which can only be filled by religious belief.
This goes back to Blaise Pascal, and his 1670 book Pensées, in which Pascal writes:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself.”
- Blaise Pascal, Pensées VII(425)
_________________
The God-shaped hole is really a causality-shaped hole.
And Pascal, and Klavan, and Walsh, don't want to fill it with "I Don't Know" ... it seems more comfortable to fill it with ... well, SOMETHING!
_________________
Happily, we've been filling it with truths for centuries ... we've explained weather and tides, eclipses and seasons, natural beauties and natural disasters, the wonders and the calamities which used to leave us both awed and terrified ... we've filled quite a lot of the God-Shaped Hole with science and other discoveries.
There's was still a big gap to fill ... and so the God Of The Gaps, though getting smaller, still had a place in the hearts of the credulous ...
But Ayn Rand has filled quite a lot of that remaining space up, very nicely, by providing a reason-based philosophy, including a this-worldly metaphysics, an understandable, reliable epistemology, a rational ethical system, a proper political understanding, and even a well-grounded esthetics.
In his chapter on Reason, and as discussed in his lecture on Certainty & Happiness, Leonard Peikoff discusses the status of any given item of knowledge, in any given instance ... he takes us through the progression of knowing, in regard to complex, non-self-evident facts, from possible ... through probable ... and finally, certain.
And apart from this, the concept of the arbitrary ... a claim put forth in the absence of evidence of any sort, perceptual or conceptual.
__________________________________
In this regard, I've sometimes wondered ... what's the difference between "I believe", and "I know".
Well, that's the difference ... some people are willing to believe ... to regard as so, things they don't know.
Strange, but true.
This is why, for example, Objectivists are Atheist, not Agnostic ... "I Don't Know" doesn't apply when there's nothing TO know, no valid evidence for a supposition at all.
__________________________________
So yes, sometimes, the right answer is: "I don't know."
Now, here's a big point I want to make, especially to younger folks, since it took me a while to learn this ... I've got to acknowledge, there may be people who'll hold "I don't know" against you.
You've probably met them ... those people exist in a place called The Internet ... and all over college campuses ...
And hey, I admit it. Such people may be better persuaded by false epistemological bravado ...
But if they are, they're hardly worth persuading!
Still, such people do exist ... and denying it doesn't help matters.
In this regard, I recommend two strategies ... which can be summed up by two assertions:
The first, is, "I don't know ... but what I DO know is ..." Followed by actual facts, actual knowledge.
The second is: "I don't know ... and neither do you."
But to be able to say, "I Don't Know" ... period. Confidentially, without self-consciousness.
That's a bold move that Chicks Dig ... right along with:
* sending text messages in complete sentences.
* pausing between phrases ... self-confident men & women aren't afraid to let people get a word in edgewise.
* being willing to state the truth about your epistemological status, when the reality is: I Don't Know.
That's hott.
_______________________
Okay, I'm joking just a little ... where that kind of clarity and confidence is most powerful is in your own thought and behavior ... for your own sake.
Just as you've got to know how to win with grace, and how to lose with dignity, you've also got to know how to state, confidently and unreservedly, that when you know something, you know it ...
... and when you don't, you don't.
I know what I know, and I don't know what I don't know.
That's power. That's self-esteem in action. That's a small, but (properly understood) a significant part of mastery over ... Life On Earth.
________________________________
LINKS YOU WANT!
"I Don't Know" | Life On Earth With Robert Nasir | Episode 105
Certainty and Happiness: Achieving Success in Thought and Action, by Leonard Peikoff
Facets of Ayn Rand - Part Two (The Glorious Lunch Break & The Copper Pot)
https://newideal.aynrand.org/facets-of-ayn-rand-part-2/
2021-07-04 - Time, Identity, and Freedom - Five Minutes With Robert Nasir - Episode 70
The Power Of Saying "I Don't Know" by Gaurav Gupta
https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnkotter/2016/11/29/the-power-of-saying-i-dont-know/?sh=33cc911a1858
I so enjoyed this essay, Robert! Such great stuff throughout the piece. One of many radical concepts Rand brought to light was the concept of spiritual enrichment minus religious dogma- so, secular spiritualism, as I've seen it called sometimes. To me, the spiritual aspects of her work, both her fiction and non fiction, are often overlooked. I'm glad to see Objectivists focusing on that aspect recently!
An interesting observation I have that is part anecdotal when it comes to me, and part anecdotal when it comes to society in general these days, is that those who claim to "know" something are demonized and attacked, while those who claim to "not know" are showered with praise or coddled (situations vary). I even see it in Objectivist communities, especially ones who unfortunately take a dogmatic approach to the philosophy and in turn deify Rand. If you break even at all from her exact words, you're going to get hit with heavy (metaphorical) fire. But when one does take this dogmatic view, all the conversation ends up being is a regurgitation of her work- nothing new comes from the conversation. I've experienced it a few times. But it's sad even this quasi-religious view of the concepts of knowing and not knowing seeps into even the most science-centered circles.
To me, my experience has been it is more dangerous to know, than not know. It is more advantageous to claim ignorance than to stand firm and unapologetically in one's principles and convictions.
Maybe it's my delivery. I'm a straight shooter ;)
You've given me a lot to ponder. I appreciate it!