Not knowing is a fact of life but not knowing that we don’t know is a choice.

When making a decision, we think of what we want without thinking about the reverse.

We know what we know, but we forget that there are things we know we don’t know, and things we don’t know, we don’t know.

We tend to live in the intersection between the first and second categories. And to avoid the third one because we don’t even know it exists.

Comfort is where we live.

True knowledge is where we don’t live.

Almost every single choice we make in our lives uses this framework.

We are conditioned to only think in terms of what we know.

We do the things we love. We spend time with people we know. We listen to the music we love, we watch the movies and read the books we know about.

Rarely ever do you meet someone who is always out to explore and discover new things. Most people just prefer to hold on to their habits and stick to what they know. Granted that, if you stick to what you know you will feel a certain sense of comfort and control.

Comfort is where we live, true knowledge is where we don’t live.

But the truth is: what we don’t know is more important than everything we do know.

This is because anything that is in this last category can hurt you but nothing in the first two categories can hurt you. Just think about it.

If you knew that a piece of bread contained poison, would you eat it?

Most likely not.

However, if you didn’t know that it contained poison (things you don’t know you don’t know) and ate it, you would probably end up in a very bad place.

If you knew that the person sitting next to you had corona virus, would you stay physically close to that person?

Most likely not. But if you didn’t know that the person was at risk and maintained close contact, you would probably be hurt by the virus.

Risks arise because most of our lives we are not aware of our blind spots and the things we don’t know we don’t know. We go through life relying on the small amount of knowledge gained through a series of experiences lived.

Our actions reflect a reality that does not exist. We live according to this:

Without realizing that life actually works like this:

The issue with this is that we go through life blindfolded as we fool ourselves into thinking that we see clearly.

We focus on what we think to be true without accounting for the fact that what is true today may turn out to be false tomorrow.

We end up being hurt because we did not acknowledge that what we don’t know is much greater than what we know.

I have been thinking quite a lot about this issue and after much thought, I came down to the conclusion that there are no real solutions to this problem but only pointers that can serve to orient us.

The first pointer is to consider the Socratic paradox: “All I know is that I know nothing.”

This is a humble way of thinking when making decisions. It forces us to be prudent. It brings us back to the first principles of decision making: there are always more choices than those you see in front of you.

By understanding this, we are able to look at different areas before making a decision.

While there is no single way to take risk out of the equation, this is helpful in decreasing it by a little bit.

The second pointer is to look at the reverse.

In essence, you have to prepare for war if you want peace, prepare for hate if you want love, and prepare for darkness if you want the light.

Always consider why you may be wrong more than why you may be right. The goal of this exercise is not to be stuck in analysis paralysis but to consider the factors for why you may be wrong. Sometimes we are wrong for the right reasons or right for the wrong reasons — but it is helpful to understand the reasons for which we are wrong.

By building a strong case for the alternative, we can see whether our choice is the right one.

The third pointer is to become anti-fragile.

While you should avoid anything that can cause your downfall and threaten your survival, you should aim to use your non-deadly mistakes to become better — to become like the hydra in Greek mythology.

A child gets stronger after he falls down. An entrepreneur gets better after she fails. A venture capitalist makes better investments after he makes the wrong investments.

What does not kill you will only make you stronger.

This fact of life can be pretty daunting. But I would like to remind you of a simple truth: You are not what you go through, but what you go through will help you become who you are.

It is okay to not know. It is okay to fail. Failure is designed to be part of life.

When you are walking blindfolded, it is only a matter of time before you stumble and fall. But, when you fall, you do not have to unpack your bag and live there. Instead, learn why you fell and move on.

Not knowing is a fact of life but not knowing that we don’t know is a choice.