You Cannot Learn What You Already "Know"
“What is the first business of one who practices philosophy? To get rid of self-conceit. For it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows.” -Epictetus
I try and remind myself of this quote as often as I can. I work in an industry that requires us to learn and unlearn things all the time. This is the way with technology. Knowing it today has nothing to do with whether you will still know it tomorrow, because it is constantly evolving and changing.
I also try to keep this quote in mind when I find myself looking at social media, especially when someone starts talking politics. Epictetus reminds me that arguing with someone who is already convinced of the “rightness” of their beliefs is pointless. They are not interested in rethinking what they “know”, or learning something new. They are firmly entrenched in the opinion they already have. They have closed their mind to any other idea than the one they currently hold.
Simply put, any reply is just a waste of my time.
But, I also want to remind myself of how Epictetus describes what has to happen for someone to learn something new. We must get rid of self-conceit. We must not assume that we always know the truth. We must allow the possibility that our experiences, our friends, or choices have influenced us to believe things that might not actually be true. This is not easy work. Epictetus recognized that. His statement that this is the “first business” of a philosopher underscores both how important it is, and how fundamentally ingrained it is to all of us.
As Adam Grant writes about in his book “Rethink” the most difficult beliefs to question are the ones that we have let define us, and for many people in 2022, those are political beliefs. Far too many people have one set of beliefs, one side if you will, and that side has become a core part of who they are, as opposed to something they believe.
You can’t argue with true believers like this. Presenting even scientific facts that run counter to their beliefs is questioning the core of who they are. You are attacking them, personally.
Of course, of the flip side of that, if you find yourself feeling “attacked” every time someone even lightly disagrees with you, it might just be that you have become a closed-minded zealot.
The more closed-minded zealots we have out there, the less likely we are to accomplish anything, or find solutions for serious problems. “True believers” have simple answers to complex questions, that they never question.
US politics is currently being run by people who are more than willing to keep manipulating the “true believers” in their party, making sure to point out how they are constantly under attack from mysterious forces that think differently than they do. Forces that must be defeated, by our candidate.
They are not doing this based on truth. It’s nothing more than a blind desire for power. Too many Americans can’t see it though, because they think they know everything they need to know.
They’ve left themselves unable to learn anything new.