Knowing You Know or Just Thinking You Know

On at least two occasions in my life, someone insisted on wagering on a fact.  Both times, I won the bet.  There were other times in which the situation was similar, but I opted not to bet.  The difference?  Knowing I know and thinking I know.  I refuse to bet on facts when I only think I know.  The key is understanding your source and whether or not "the truth" is fluid.

If we lived in a black and white world in which everything was either true or false, life would be simple.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) we live in a world of infinite variation in which most of what we know either was wrong at one point or will be wrong someday.  Once upon a time, you would be burned at the stake as a heretic for suggesting that the Earth was not flat.  Thankfully, the Earth is no longer flat.  The facts have changed.

Facts change all the time.  And, we're talking about "facts" here.  You know, those immutable truths that are black and white?  Now, think about all the stuff we "know" that is not based on hard facts, but rather a series of opinions and empirical evidence.

Have you ever gotten into a debate with someone about what is "the best <your thing here>?"  Being the best requires being better than competing options in at least most if not all variables by which it could be compared.  What are those variables?  Are some more important than others?  How should each variable be evaluated?  It's tricky...and subjective.  It's no wonder that people debate.

Debate is good and healthy, if you approach it with an open mind.  In other words, it's okay to "think" you know, but be very selective about the things you "know" you know.  Would you be willing to bet everything you own on it?  If the answer is "yes," then chances are you really do know you know (or you have a serious gambling problem).  Understanding the difference can open your mind up for new learning opportunities that you may have missed before.

It might just cause you to ask some questions rather than blindly defend your existing knowledge.  Questions like "where did you learn about that" can be extremely valuable.  Lot's of people use "I read it on the Internet" as their source for knowledge these days.  To this, I simply refer you to this website: The Flat Earth Society.  The source of knowledge is often more important than the knowledge itself.

Don't just ask other people to question the sources for their knowledge -- question your own.  When I can't remember how I know something, I am a lot more suspect than when I know my sources are good.  We work in an academic community in which the rigor of the scientific method is paramount.  Yet, even within the scientific community statistical validity does not create a black and white set of truths.

It's complicated.  Just keep that in mind next time you find yourself disagreeing with someone.