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I had an art teacher in secondary school who never taught me anything about art, but he did leave me with a cryptic saying he was particularly fond of.<\/p>\n
“You know, you know, but you don’t know.”<\/strong><\/p>\n He was a cynical, sarcastic, balding old man, and he said this in response to students who’d say “I know!”- especially when it came to deadlines for handing in homework. And just as he predicted, students will always scratch their heads sheepishly when their work is due, and give a plethora of excuses, ranging from “I forgot,” to “I had a lot of other commitments,” and “Sir, you look very handsome today.” None of them worked- he’d dole out punishments with mercilessness and creativity- If you knew, as you claimed you did, then you would have made necessary arrangements to ensure that the deadline was met.<\/p>\n You know, you know, but you don’t know.<\/strong><\/p>\n Knowing all along: <\/em><\/strong> I know, for instance, that violence is a terrible idea when it comes to conflict resolution. It’s always made intuitive sense to me. I don’t just know it intellectually- in fact, I think I’ve only come to appreciate the intellectual arguments for it very recently- but I’ve always\u00a0felt<\/em> it, intuitively. I have an emotional connection with that knowledge, and it has always influenced my decision-making.<\/p>\n I think it’s important to seek out and understand the reality underlying our intuitions- in this case, what I “knew along along” turned out to be accurate, and useful- but this is unfortunately not always the case, and there are many instances in which we will feel that we know something where we turn out to be wrong.<\/em> Consider how Othello “knew” that Desdemona was unfaithful, when she wasn’t. Our intuitions are fallible- where possible, seek evidence and validation through falsification<\/a>.<\/p>\n Getting to know: <\/em><\/strong>One of the best ideas to keep in mind when dealing with any sort of interaction is to seek out mutually beneficial outcomes. This wasn’t<\/em> intuitively obvious to me- growing up I used to think that it was important to show off and impress people, and for the most part I think I can say that I now know better. Not only does it intellectually make sense to me, it’s developed substantially and become a part of my intuitive belief system- I now literally feel uncomfortable when I jeopardize an opportunity to negotiate a mutually beneficial outcome- because I know better, and I can feel it.<\/p>\n Know but don’t know: <\/strong><\/em>This is the worst place to be- to know something intellectually, but to be unable to apply it because we’re unable to feel<\/em> it- so it doesn’t influence our decision-making. This is where I have the most trouble. I intellectually know and understand that slow and steady work over an extended period of time is far more effective than random short bursts- but I have yet to truly absorb this knowledge into the essence of my being- it does not influence my decision-making as effectively as it should, and I don’t feel<\/em> it as much as I wish I did.<\/p>\n Alarm bells typically go off whenever I get the slightest impulse to be violent, or if I screw up a mutually-beneficial outcome, but nothing really happens when I haven’t been writing or working out consistently, until I think about it much later. I find this terribly inefficient, ineffective and altogether undesirable.<\/p>\n