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The Boundary Between Humility and Boldness

A 2×2 matrix of knowledge and expression: where do people who change the world stand between pretending to know and admitting not to know?

SproutMusingTimeless🌱 living· 1 min read

written updated

  • Ideally: be bold (pretend to know) when you know, be humble (admit not knowing) when you don't, and when you know 50%, be 50% bold and 50% humble.
  • But reality is hard. Some people have a humble disposition, others a bold one.
  • The matrix:
    • Know
      • Pretend to know
        • Can appear to be someone faking knowledge when they don't, and risk actually becoming that
        • Can change the world
      • Admit not knowing
        • Exemplary, universally liked by people
        • Can make great contributions even if not changing the world
    • Don't know
      • Pretend to know
        • Can be confused with someone who knows and pretends to know
        • Harms society
      • Admit not knowing
        • The rightful citizen?
        • Hard to make major contributions to the world
  • Looking at society, it feels like there are so many people pretending to know when they don't.
  • If you can't convince someone about something, then you don't fully understand that something.