I Don't Know
Why are these three words so hard for some people to mutter? The fear of being caught without an answer is so scary, that some people will say anything to avoid having no answer at all.
It's a big problem.
Consider this: you ask a question and you get an answer. You accept the answer as true because you think, "why would someone mislead me?". And you're right, they're not intentionally misleading you, but they have an intrinsic need to give you an answer - any answer - so that they don't "lose face" or something.
I just can't wrap my head around this behavior because most likely, you'll take some course of action based on the answer to your question. But when you start to notice things - things that don't make any sense and couldn't possibly happen if the information you got was correct -you'll spend a lot of effort reevaluating your beliefs and doing your own research. Eventually (and after some frustration), you'll find something that contradicts the initial information you got (in the form of your original answered question).
Oh boy. Now what do you do? Which answer is right? You dig deeper to find a third source to corroborate either answer.
Now the whole point of asking the question in the first place was to try and avoid all this digging but in fact, you're probably now dong more research than you would've done if you've never gotten that initial answer in the first place.
Eventually, you finally discover that the first person was full of BS. What's worse, when you try and educate them with the right information they'll sometimes start to argue or rationalize their ignorance. They've now lost all credibility in your eyes. You can never again accept what they say at face value and you'll always question the things they say. Everyone loses.
Is this behavior a product of our education and training, where refusing to answer a question you don't know is considered "wrong"? I don't know, but I wish I could stop it.
It's OK to say "I don't know". No lost credibility. No need to raise the BS filter in every future conversation.
It's a big problem.
Consider this: you ask a question and you get an answer. You accept the answer as true because you think, "why would someone mislead me?". And you're right, they're not intentionally misleading you, but they have an intrinsic need to give you an answer - any answer - so that they don't "lose face" or something.
I just can't wrap my head around this behavior because most likely, you'll take some course of action based on the answer to your question. But when you start to notice things - things that don't make any sense and couldn't possibly happen if the information you got was correct -you'll spend a lot of effort reevaluating your beliefs and doing your own research. Eventually (and after some frustration), you'll find something that contradicts the initial information you got (in the form of your original answered question).
Oh boy. Now what do you do? Which answer is right? You dig deeper to find a third source to corroborate either answer.
Now the whole point of asking the question in the first place was to try and avoid all this digging but in fact, you're probably now dong more research than you would've done if you've never gotten that initial answer in the first place.
Eventually, you finally discover that the first person was full of BS. What's worse, when you try and educate them with the right information they'll sometimes start to argue or rationalize their ignorance. They've now lost all credibility in your eyes. You can never again accept what they say at face value and you'll always question the things they say. Everyone loses.
Is this behavior a product of our education and training, where refusing to answer a question you don't know is considered "wrong"? I don't know, but I wish I could stop it.
It's OK to say "I don't know". No lost credibility. No need to raise the BS filter in every future conversation.
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