“I Do Not Know”

Let us imagine for a moment we find ourselves in an unfamiliar house. The lights are off. We are given only our cell phone screen light to help us navigate through the labyrinth. We are forced to make decisions with very limited information. We must navigate without knowing what lies mere inches around us. 

While this is a simple thought experiment, this analogy is how I describe most daily conversations. We speak with such absolutism about our thoughts while navigating with our cell phone screens (literally and figuratively). Let us take the Chinese spy balloon. I met a lot of global security experts during this period. People who held all the answers, without an inkling of experience or knowledge in such areas. I have met a lot of “experts” in my life. The world of social media is ripe with them. Absolutism creeps into the minds of the populace through social media and the yellow journalism of the modern news industry. What is lost is the nuance of the world and the ability for us to say a simple phrase long forgotten: “I do not know.” 

It is usually easy to spot a true expert in any field. Most experts can speak in depth about the given topic. But they are also experienced enough to provide the unknowns and gaps in knowledge (beware of anyone claiming to know it all and provide the absolute answer).  As members of the general public, we must understand that experts are also human. There are different opinions based on different experiences. 

As the general public, we should strive the navigate the house with a flashlight. We should seek to shine the beam of light into unknown areas to help enlighten ourselves. We should also strive to adopt “I do not know” into our vocabulary. The heated tabletop outrage over hot-button issues is often nothing more than expelled air. Most of us are in no position to change the outcome of current events or take no effective action to do so, given our low voting turnout rates and lack of civic engagement. I am not here to say that current events do not merit discussions, but maybe we should admit our own shortcomings and lack of knowledge. We might also stop and ask ourselves if the heated conversations are worth our time and effort. 

___________________________

Jake Smith is a law enforcement officer and former Army Ranger with four deployments to Afghanistan.

As the Voice of the Veteran Community, The Havok Journal seeks to publish a variety of perspectives on a number of sensitive subjects. Unless specifically noted otherwise, nothing we publish is an official point of view of The Havok Journal or any part of the U.S. government.