We Are All Ignorant Of Something

There is an irrational belief in our culture that goes something like this: “I have to be competent and show intelligence as well as wisdom in everything I do.” In other words, we should be infallible, at least in the eyes of others. We are not allowed to make mistakes.

People who assume too many duties feel an intense fear of appearing inferior, ignorant or less intelligent. They feel that if others perceive that they are not good enough in any field of intelligence, or in any ability or skill, they will be repulsed. And this is something that is not tolerated and that generates considerable anxiety in them.

If we reflect on this, we will quickly realize that this is an absurd and counterproductive fear. It is true that it is satisfying to demonstrate certain skills, qualities or wisdom ; when others look up to us, praise or congratulate us for something we did well, we become happy with ourselves. We are proud.

It is one thing to enjoy praise, but quite another to have a self-esteem tied to how intelligent, educated or skilled we are. Our self-esteem should not depend on this.

Self-esteem should never depend on superficial values, physical things, intelligence, success, achievement or the acceptance of others. Because these values ​​are very easy to lose in a given moment, and if you lose them, your self-esteem will therefore follow them. It will make you a very vulnerable person.

There will always be someone prettier than you, smarter, more educated, more successful… If you therefore make your self-esteem and your self-worth dependent on others, you will become emotionally weak. Discomfort and non-acceptance of yourself will take over your life.

Unfortunately, from childhood we are taught that we must ” study hard “, ” become something in life ” and ” be the best “ because bad things can happen if we do not! For example, if we are not the smartest person in a conversation, do not have an admirable job, are not successful… what should others think? We are doomed to a mediocre life! What a shame!

Imagine how a child feels when you teach these ideas. He will grow up and be worried about being number one and constantly show that he is worthy. Hen will decide to compete with others to “be the best” instead of competing with himself to be challenged and have fun. The child grows up with anxiety and will perceive the fact that her value is not recognized as a threat… Overwhelming, right?

To break down this learned belief, we must offer ourselves arguments that convince us that what we are thinking is completely irrational, surreal, and absurd. Therefore, we must dismiss and replace it with healthier beliefs. Some arguments you can use are the following:

• Intelligence is not the most important value: as we said before, it is not very important to be or not to be knowledgeable, intelligent or educated. We can live very well even if we are not very intelligent, and that does not take away any of your value as a person. This true value that matters is love. Love for life, for yourself and for others.
• We are all ignorant of something: All persons have things of which they are ignorant; we just ignore different things, and that’s very true. A doctor may know a lot about medicine, but not much about computers. An electrician has great knowledge of electricity, but he may be very bad at photography…

The thing is, we strive to be perfect and know so much until we reach this imaginary goal that does not exist. Let us accept what is real: We are all ignorant of infinite numbers of things, and there is nothing wrong with that. The world continues to spin.

Our relationships with others will improve: We believe we will gain the appreciation of others by showing that we are successful, intelligent or wise, and this may be true sometimes. Especially when this estimate comes from empty people who have the same poor value scale.

Thankfully, there are many people in the world who truly appreciate authentic people who prove themselves as they are. They appreciate that people acknowledge that they are not good at everything or perfect, but who are willing to have fun while learning. These are truly heroic people.

Evidently, our relationships will improve if we go through life with this mentality. We do not engage in debates or clumsy arguments to find the truth or be right. We simply enjoy ourselves and learn along the way because we all have something to learn.

Let yourself seem ignorant to see what happens: Are you afraid to raise your hand in the classroom because you are afraid to seem ignorant? Do you not realize that you really will be if you do not raise your hand? These paradoxical effects are typical in psychology: for fear of appearing stupid, we eventually become stupid.

We should all ignore the fear that something bad will happen if we do not know the answer to a question or if we fail. Nothing will happen; you will continue to live. Therefore , you should dare to do all the things you find embarrassing or scary: Ask questions, raise your hand in the classroom, answer questions and learn what you do not know along the way.