We live on an island surrounded by a sea of ignorance. As our island of knowledge grows, so does the shore of our ignorance. – John Archibald Wheeler
I’m not sure where I first came across this quote years ago, but it’s echoed in my head ever since.
You would think that as our knowledge grows, we become less ignorant. And on an absolute basis, this is true. But with that increased knowledge we paradoxically become MORE aware of what we don’t know, things we didn’t even know we didn’t know.
Pick an example in your life where you’ve grown in knowledge and apply this idea to it.
Gardening.
Auto repair.
Mathematics.
Physical health.
Marketing.
Taxes.
Does it ring true?
In my own life, I think of financial planning. I’m a better planner than I was 10 years ago, or even 2 years ago. Technically, relationally, practically. And yet the more I grow, the more I become aware of what else there is to learn about – things I didn’t even know to be thinking about in years past.
Same with parenting. I feel my wife and I have grown substantially in parenting – and the more experience we have, the more we realize just how much more there is to learn.
I think there’s two ways we can process this:
1- focus on the shore of ignorance, the increasing amount of things we don’t know.
2- focus on the island of knowledge, and all that we DO know that we didn’t know before.
There is a beautiful dynamic at play – while acting on the knowledge of what we do know, we can continue to grow by exploring the shores of what we don’t.
And instead of being paralyzed or overwhelmed by what we don’t know, we can remind ourselves of what we do.