True Thinkers - Define What This Means To You -- 'You Don't Know What You Don't Know' --. .. .. . and.. .

Question

Very similar --' You only know what you know' .

Some may look at this and say 'Pfft , what's that' or 'This is stupid' . . . . . But True Thinking folks 'know' what it means .
Are you a true thinker ? Good , then define what those phrases mean in the world of Politics .
Thank you .

This is more fun than I expected . Some of these answerers weren't wise enough to 'not answer' and expose their ignorance .

Joey - Born in the USA - and Jennifer are all close to correct in their own ways .

Wrong you are Kenny boy . Not even close . Now put on your thinking-cap if you have one and try again .

Answer 1

I was working on a project once that involved people from many different functions in the company. Our task was to create an awards submission for the first state quality award. We worked very hard on that submission, and when the senior manager read it he said it was awful and we had to start over. We were very very disappointed as we had been putting in 18 hour days for weeks. But the senior manager wasn't angry - his exact words were "you don't know what you don't know". We had tried our very best, but had missed the mark - not through ignorance or lack of trying, but because we had not grasped as a group the right approach. So in that instance he was not taking us to task for failing, he was acknowledging that we worked hard with the information we had at hand. Granted, this is not politics, but big corporations work much the same way, in my experience.

Answer 2

I think it means that if something is completely out of your realm of knowledge, that you have no idea what you don't know about it. For instance, (and this is just a random example) I don't know anything about speaking Chinese. And there are undoubtedly countless nuances, levels and levels of things I don't know about that language, and due to my ignorance, I don't even know the depth of my ignorance.

Does that make sense? These are hard ideas to articulate. VERY good question.

In the world of politics, an example would be military intelligence. Most normal civilians have no idea about military strategy and intelligence on anything but a superficial level. So while it's easy to armchair quarterback, most people don't even know what we don't know because there are nuances and levels of information that we don't ever have access to, or even know exist. Again, hope this makes sense.

And I am not afraid to expose my ignorance. It's the only way to learn!!

Answer 3

Knowledge: is the act or condition of knowing something with a familiarity gained through experience or association. It means "to perceive directly", "to have direct cognition", to "apprehend intellectually", "to acquire facts".

Which means, hearsay is not knowledge. Knowledge cannot even be derived from someone telling us they did something, because we still did not see or hear them do it. We did not experience direct cognition.

Therefore, just because a candidate announces that he's done this, believes that, and will do that, we don't KNOW that it's a fact.

And when the politician is given information from another, but hasn't experienced this information firsthand he/she can only act on trust. Like the user above stated about her company: they did the best they could with what they had to work with.

So politically speaking, we don't know what's going on to such a profound level that we're all ignorant of the truth. We can only go on what is handed to us, but we still can't know what we don't see or hear, or touch, or feel.

Answer 4

True wisdom comes when one realizes one knows nothing...

Edit: In the political arena knowledge changes rapidly. Due to continuous updates, new information, or whatever, so what you thought you knew may be totally obsolete or require new thoughts/ideas etc...That and people's opinions change with every new poll, constantly requiring information to be revised, or updated, or changed in some way...A good example of this is the way Hillary Clinton backpedals when asked why she voted for the war in Iraq..."If only I knew then what I know now"...

Answer 5

A thinker is a person who has a well-developed ability for thinking.
Thinkers keep looking for the right time and right way to accomplish their goals.
They analyze everything, so they are full of worry and self-criticism.
They are always focused on their work, and staying on track.
Thinkers are always making the correct decision in everything

Answer 6

This is a true statement. It's an important realization. It seems to be a way for politicians to not address problems or shun them. It is also a way to justify the decisions politicians and managers make. I was acting on what I knew at the time, for example.

Answer 7

Beyond what is presented to the general population through the media, there are things happening in politics that most of us are not aware of.

In order to 'know', you must have a complete set of information. Experience helps.

Answer 8

Earnest...your initial question is up there with the higher thinking crowd...Basically it means....

"The more you know....the less you know". There will ALWAYS be something you don't know....no matter how much you learn.

As it applies to Politics....you can NEVER know enough as you are never TOLD enough....and just when you think you have it ALL figured out....they change the rules.

Answer 9

I'm living in England and they have a similar phrase: "You don't know you're born yet." Basically it means that a smart man is always aware that he doesn't know everything and a smart leader is always aware that there are other possibilities.

Answer 10

I think that was a quote from Donald Rumsfeld. If you knew what you dont know then you could sometimes find the answer. The problem is that most of the time people dont know what they they dont know.