“It is better to know some of the questions than all of the answers.”

James Thurber

When the game show Jeopardy gives an answer contestants have to provide the question.  Why would contestants need to respond in the form of a question?

“In the early 1960s, when entertainer/producer Merv Griffin was trying to devise a new quiz show format, his then-wife Julann suggested that he give the answer to contestants and have them respond with a question.”  This is the formal answer but what about the informal possibility.  Maybe, Mrs. Griffin, like James Thurber, was cognizant of questions being more important than answers.

Knowing

To expand what we know starts with what we are seeking to know, our questions.  The journey toward new knowledge always starts with a question.  We are trying to discover what is unknown to us.  We can still make connections of what we know to what we do not know, however, growth is in the realization of some new awareness, which we may not even have been looking to find. 

When the expansion of our knowledge is our goal, having the right questions is everything.  Space is an excellent example of this questioning approach to knowledge.  We send our telescopes into space to fill in the blanks of our knowledge of the universe.  We seek answers by creating questions first.  For example: Could the discovery of wormholes in space shorten space travel time? 

For centuries, we did not even ask the questions that we needed to ask.  And, in addition, we at times did not even want to accept the answers we had discovered.  Copernicus’s heliocentric theory, that the sun was the center of our solar system and not the earth, which originated in the early 16th century, was delayed for 20 years due to astronomical, philosophical, and religious objections.

The world was not ready to move on to the new view of our place in the universe and tried very hard to maintain the old view of earth as the center. Science in the 16^th century was an inconvenient truth.  Sound familiar?   

Copernicus was fearful in 1514 that his ideas were too threatening to the status-quo. He was right in his calculation that even though science would eventually prove him correct, he was unsure of how it would be received.  

The threat of such a new perspective was too much for the time to be accepted.  Copernicus would have been putting his life at risk by releasing such new and challenging information that was not conforming with accepted information.

The misinformation of the time was inexplicably connected to preconceived notions of thought. Expanding and growing the intelligence of the planet was dependent on an acceptance of newly discovered truths over misinformation. We are still fighting this same battle with climate change deniers who have a vested interest in maintaining antiquated views for their own financial gain.

Today, Google currently runs around 99,000 search queries per second, which adds up to a whopping 8.5 billion searches per day. Moreover, the average person searches Google three or four times per day.  Psychologists are familiar with clients presenting in session and stating that they have searched Dr. Google and they already have a self-diagnosis.  In 2024, the need to know appears to be omnipresent.

“Truth walks toward us on the paths of our questions. As soon as you think you have the answer, you have closed the path and may miss the vital new information. Wait awhile in the stillness, and do not rush to conclusions, no matter how uncomfortable the unknowing.” - Jacqueline Winspear

Unknowing

Is it possible that unknowing could be a potential pathway to knowing more? Does our need to know create most of the anxiety and a host of other psychological issues in humans?  

The psychologist Ernesto Spinelli described working as an ‘unknowing’ existential therapist in his book Tales of Un-Knowing.  In his book, Spinelli shares several case studies where he suggests that the best way to uncover the unknowing aspects of the client’s issues is to be in the unknowing state as a therapist. 

This is not the way of psychotherapeutic certainty and reductionism.  According to Spinelli, it is a way of unknowing. 

Rather than expounding a set of theories, Spinelli gives an account of some of his most unforgettable therapeutic encounters that he has experienced during his professional life.  Spinelli supports a belief that unknowing can be an asset in therapy rather than a liability.

Accepting the Unknown

Understanding through experience highlights a major difference from understanding through one’s dedication toward acquired academic knowledge.  We are repeatedly challenged to keep looking for more clarity through our experiences, which will continue to teach us more. 

Travel is an excellent example of this experiential learning.  We can read and study for years about a particular place and have somewhat of an understanding about that place.  However, when we actually experience that place, not in a book or online but in person, we are amazed at how much more we learn. 

To get the full benefit of that experiential learning, we may have to forgo our pre-emptive knowledge or bias.  Our ability to be in the unknown before we step onto that foreign soil can only help us understand more fully and more accurately the experiences that we are having.

The unknown is difficult to accept.  Remember that we have been conditioned from birth to know.  Google is an example of this conditioning. 

Other social media platforms also exhibit the need to know.  Who likes my photos?  Who likes my profile?  How many hits do I have on Tik Tok? 

This need to know is admired by some and practiced by most.  But could the unknowing actually lead to a better existence. 

Ernesto Spinelli found out more about his clients by not knowing.  Your travel experiences taught you more than all your travel research could ever teach you.

Exponential Change

In a world that is changing exponentially, how long will we be able to hang on to the ever increasingly unrealistic need to know.  Even Einstein had to admit that he came to realize how much he did not know, and he is one of the worlds’ best examples of knowing.  To move toward the unknowing could alleviate much of our anxiety and depression because these ailments are derived from the ever-increasing complexity to understand the world as it unfolds. 

We can still be knowledgeable through unknowing because we are evolving      experientially.  Experiential learning seems better suited to the future anyway.  Current knowledge is under continual threat of change due to volumes of new and faster research methods, especially AI.  This new technology will displace much of what we currently know anyway.  How will we keep up?

The speed of change will not allow antiquated thinking in the future for any extended period of time.  The so-called facts of today have a predicted shorter life span than any other time in history. 

By shifting to unknowing and experiential learning we are moving with the current and not against it.  Obviously, there will always be more unknowns than knowns in our future.  You may even, eventually, feel more comfortable in the unknown.  Of course, this is still unknown.