How To Know What You Don’t Know
By Adedayo Oluwole
Be in the Know
As clichéd as it may seem, is the notion that “knowledge is power” truly accurate? If it were that simple, we would be superhumans because we would all know or think we know. This opinion piece begins with a fundamental question: How do you know what you don’t know? At first, this question might appear perplexing, but stay with me as I try to make sense of it.
Google It!
The way we learn is very individualistic. Personally, I am a researcher, always striving to know more about what I already know or something completely new. Access to knowledge about everything from how to fix a tyre to how to make cupcakes is readily available online. In fact, ‘Google’ has achieved official recognition in the Oxford Dictionary as a “search for information about (someone or something) on the internet using the search engine Google.” Life is a continuous search for knowledge. The only way to find out what you don’t know is to search for it in all the right places.
Be All Knowing
Knowledge is ‘hiding’ in plain sight, waiting to be discovered and applied. You just need to look for it. Be careful of your source of information, we are in an age of misinformation, disinformation and ‘fake news’.
Trusted sources are also becoming the main source of misinformation, with many ‘big media’ retracting stories and making public apologies. You must cross-check your source of information and apply ‘common sense’.
Common sense is your innate ability to deeply question information that is being thrown out from everywhere. If an influencer with 20 million followers, known for being famous simply for being famous starts selling Krypto currency to you – this should be a red flag. You need to go to a trusted source, financial regulator or people who should be in the know about this topic. This makes sense right? You would not go to a fast-food restaurant to buy shares or make an investment.
In addition to applying common sense, we must be aware of our own biases in order to better evaluate information and identify potential misinformation.
What’s Your Superpower?
I am a ferocious reader, fact-checker and researcher. Most importantly, I am an old-school thinker, which means common sense as well as finding the right sources of information is the best way I have found to ensure that I am able to know what I don’t know. How do you source information in this age where knowledge has been ‘weaponised’ in how we form opinions on everything from politics, religion, and social norms?
