Paradox Of Knowledge

This morning, my son was sharing an interesting predicament he was going through in his studies. According to him, sometimes, the more he delved into a subject, the less he felt in control.

As he told me this, I smiled because I knew he was experiencing the paradox of knowledge. The more you learn about any subject, the more you realize how little you know.

I assured him that his predicament was normal and that he was progressing in his studies correctly.

The paradox of knowledge can be illustrated using a circle. At first, when you do not have a lot of knowledge of any subject, the circle of knowledge is small. You believe that you understand the basics and that there are only two or three things you don’t understand.

However, as you learn more and that knowledge circle expands, the border of the circle with the unknown also expands. As you understand a domain better, you also become more aware of how much you don’t know. Therefore, the more you know about a subject, the more you feel uncomfortable because you realize that there are many more things you are not aware of.

Being aware of the paradox of knowledge can be helpful. If you ever feel like you do not know enough and feel inadequate, remember that you feel that way because you have expanded your knowledge.

In reality, you are in a better place now than when you started.