2019-01-07 There are two patterns to the phenomenon of being afraid to say “[I don’t know.

- I don't have [[confidence (in myself)]] and I'm afraid to say "I don't know"
- In much of schooling, "what you need to know" is predetermined, and not knowing it is considered a negative
- They have learned to fear expressing "I don't know" due to unfavorable family and school environments.
- Afraid to express it because "I don't know" is equated with "I am inferior."
  • Confident and afraid to say “I don’t know”
    • The person is not aware of the fear.
    • Success in one’s area of expertise or promotion within the company organization causes one to subconsciously play the role of “superior person”.
    • What was supposed to be “someone who excels in a particular field” somehow becomes “someone who excels in all fields.”
    • We get ourselves stuck in patterns that we have repeatedly played out.
    • I forget to say, “I don’t know.”

I remember chatting with him at the end of the year and we talked about [Ph.D. can be in any field. D. in any field, it is necessary to work on “what no one knows yet” rather than “what someone has already figured out,” produce results, and defend those results against other experts. Therefore, it is essential to be aware of “what we don’t know” and to verbalize what we don’t know.

So I used to be aware that “people with the former pattern of thinking can be freed from that pattern of thinking through training in doctoral programs, programming, experimental science, etc.,” but the case that prompted me to write this article was done by someone who would have a PhD, and I wondered why. I wondered why. I wondered if it was because they were afraid to admit that they were not all-powerful.

Related:. - Fear of not knowing and its immunity - Experts who have confidence in something outside of their expertise.

orthographical variants - I am afraid of not knowing.


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