Charles Darwin seems to have said, that “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge.”

It’s easy to say yes to such a quote and move on to complain about all those who remain ignorant.

But maybe, that’s not the main point. How we build confidence may be.

There is so much we are ignorant about that ignorance cannot be avoided. Ignorance also tends to make us feel safe. We don’t know that we don’t know and don’t experience uncertainty.

Where ignorance becomes a problem, is when it becomes deliberate. Then it is used to avoid seeing that we don’t know. Looking away from what we don’t know helps us stay in our comfort zone. It allows us to avoid choosing between accepting that we don’t know or mustering the courage to want to know.

However, ignorance can also be bliss. Often things become possible simply because the person acting on them doesn’t know that they are considered impossible. And yes, many of the big projects we entertain would never be started would we know what they ask us to do.

Our ignorance thus assists us in working toward a solution, it’s enough to believe in the solution and leave any other possibility out. This might be considered a key problem for those who analyzed the situation, learned about various possible solutions, and now find themselves confronted with a choice to be made. It’s impossible to know which solution will be the right one and choosing one demands accepting the uncertainty of not knowing.

Would the key be our ability to know what to ignore?