I had an art teacher in secondary school who never taught me anything about art, but he did leave me with a cryptic saying he was particularly fond of.
“You know, you know, but you don’t know.”
He was a cynical, sarcastic, balding old man, and he said this in response to students who’d say “I know!”- especially when it came to deadlines for handing in homework. And just as he predicted, students will always scratch their heads sheepishly when their work is due, and give a plethora of excuses, ranging from “I forgot,” to “I had a lot of other commitments,” and “Sir, you look very handsome today.” None of them worked- he’d dole out punishments with mercilessness and creativity- If you knew, as you claimed you did, then you would have made necessary arrangements to ensure that the deadline was met.
You know, you know, but you don’t know.
Knowing all along: I know, for instance, that violence is a terrible idea when it comes to conflict resolution. It’s always made intuitive sense to me. I don’t just know it intellectually- in fact, I think I’ve only come to appreciate the intellectual arguments for it very recently- but I’ve always felt it, intuitively. I have an emotional connection with that knowledge, and it has always influenced my decision-making.
I think it’s important to seek out and understand the reality underlying our intuitions- in this case, what I “knew along along” turned out to be accurate, and useful- but this is unfortunately not always the case, and there are many instances in which we will feel that we know something where we turn out to be wrong. Consider how Othello “knew” that Desdemona was unfaithful, when she wasn’t. Our intuitions are fallible- where possible, seek evidence and validation through falsification.
Getting to know: One of the best ideas to keep in mind when dealing with any sort of interaction is to seek out mutually beneficial outcomes. This wasn’t intuitively obvious to me- growing up I used to think that it was important to show off and impress people, and for the most part I think I can say that I now know better. Not only does it intellectually make sense to me, it’s developed substantially and become a part of my intuitive belief system- I now literally feel uncomfortable when I jeopardize an opportunity to negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome- because I know better, and I can feel it.
Know but don’t know: This is the worst place to be- to know something intellectually, but to be unable to apply it because we’re unable to feel it- so it doesn’t influence our decision-making. This is where I have the most trouble. I intellectually know and understand that slow and steady work over an extended period of time is far more effective than random short bursts- but I have yet to truly absorb this knowledge into the essence of my being- it does not influence my decision-making as effectively as it should, and I don’t feel it as much as I wish I did.
Alarm bells typically go off whenever I get the slightest impulse to be violent, or if I screw up a mutually-beneficial outcome, but nothing really happens when I haven’t been writing or working out consistently, until I think about it much later. I find this terribly inefficient, ineffective and altogether undesirable.
How do we hack the problem of knowing but not knowing? Well… I know, but I don’t know. (Heh.) Intellectually, it makes sense to create routines and structures that remind us constantly of what we intellectually know what we ought to be knowing. But the important, powerful part is bringing in emotions into the picture– to make ourselves feel it. I need to feel it when I haven’t been writing or working out. I will figure this one out, and you’ll get to witness the process along the way.
What do you know, but not really? What do you plan to do about it?
Knowing But Not Knowing.
I had an art teacher in secondary school who never taught me anything about art, but he did leave me with a cryptic saying he was particularly fond of.
“You know, you know, but you don’t know.”
He was a cynical, sarcastic, balding old man, and he said this in response to students who’d say “I know!”- especially when it came to deadlines for handing in homework. And just as he predicted, students will always scratch their heads sheepishly when their work is due, and give a plethora of excuses, ranging from “I forgot,” to “I had a lot of other commitments,” and “Sir, you look very handsome today.” None of them worked- he’d dole out punishments with mercilessness and creativity- If you knew, as you claimed you did, then you would have made necessary arrangements to ensure that the deadline was met.
You know, you know, but you don’t know.
Knowing all along: I know, for instance, that violence is a terrible idea when it comes to conflict resolution. It’s always made intuitive sense to me. I don’t just know it intellectually- in fact, I think I’ve only come to appreciate the intellectual arguments for it very recently- but I’ve always felt it, intuitively. I have an emotional connection with that knowledge, and it has always influenced my decision-making.
I think it’s important to seek out and understand the reality underlying our intuitions- in this case, what I “knew along along” turned out to be accurate, and useful- but this is unfortunately not always the case, and there are many instances in which we will feel that we know something where we turn out to be wrong. Consider how Othello “knew” that Desdemona was unfaithful, when she wasn’t. Our intuitions are fallible- where possible, seek evidence and validation through falsification.
Getting to know: One of the best ideas to keep in mind when dealing with any sort of interaction is to seek out mutually beneficial outcomes. This wasn’t intuitively obvious to me- growing up I used to think that it was important to show off and impress people, and for the most part I think I can say that I now know better. Not only does it intellectually make sense to me, it’s developed substantially and become a part of my intuitive belief system- I now literally feel uncomfortable when I jeopardize an opportunity to negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome- because I know better, and I can feel it.
Know but don’t know: This is the worst place to be- to know something intellectually, but to be unable to apply it because we’re unable to feel it- so it doesn’t influence our decision-making. This is where I have the most trouble. I intellectually know and understand that slow and steady work over an extended period of time is far more effective than random short bursts- but I have yet to truly absorb this knowledge into the essence of my being- it does not influence my decision-making as effectively as it should, and I don’t feel it as much as I wish I did.
Alarm bells typically go off whenever I get the slightest impulse to be violent, or if I screw up a mutually-beneficial outcome, but nothing really happens when I haven’t been writing or working out consistently, until I think about it much later. I find this terribly inefficient, ineffective and altogether undesirable.
How do we hack the problem of knowing but not knowing? Well… I know, but I don’t know. (Heh.) Intellectually, it makes sense to create routines and structures that remind us constantly of what we intellectually know what we ought to be knowing. But the important, powerful part is bringing in emotions into the picture– to make ourselves feel it. I need to feel it when I haven’t been writing or working out. I will figure this one out, and you’ll get to witness the process along the way.
What do you know, but not really? What do you plan to do about it?