2/05/2015

[TT] Is It Okay To Not Know Everything?


"What the ****?"
"How could you not know that?"
"You're so stupid."
"Did you not go to school or something?"

Raise your hand if you've had anyone say any of the above or anything similar to you, 
or if you've ever said any of the above to another person.

My question for this Thought Thursday is whether it's really okay to not know things...or everything. In my short and sheltered life, I have come across situations where me or another knew little, or did not know at all, about something.

Take for example a friend of mine (apologies for not asking permission before disclosing this) who was stumped during a conversation about the Holocaust. He stopped the conversation to ask, "what's the Holocaust?" To which there was a brief silence before people, including myself, responded with things like, "you're joking, right," a few eye-rolls and a few sarcastic chuckles, followed by "how could you not know what the Holocaust is?"

Similarly, I was in a group discussion in school when I took an educated guess in response to a question. While the other members nodded at my participation, one group member interjected and ridiculed me for coming up with an answer that-she claimed-was not remotely close to being correct. That response not only made me angry, but diminished my spirit to engage in the discussion.

The issue is not that my friend did not know what the Holocaust was (because his school did not cover it as extensively as some) or whether my answer to the question was incorrect, but how people responded to it.

Have we come to an era in which it's okay to be judged or ridiculed for not knowing something? Have we already forgotten that people come from different walks of life and that what we know may not be what others know?

I have definitely learned to think twice before judging another person when they have answered a question incorrectly or asked about something they genuinely knew little or nothing about. What about you?

No comments:

Post a Comment