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The More I Learn and the Older I Get the More I Realize I Don’t Know

February 8, 2011 by Nathan Bransford 84 Comments

So does this mean I’m getting smarter or dumber?

Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: Life of a Writer

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. John Jack says

    February 8, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    What then from what he's learned does J.T. Shea, or Nathan Bransford, or anyone, newly contribute to knowledge?

    Reply
  2. Liesl says

    February 8, 2011 at 8:38 pm

    Maybe a little of both but mostly confused.

    Reply
  3. Hart Johnson says

    February 8, 2011 at 8:40 pm

    I'm a researcher by day and my old office used to have a sign that said, "We regret to inform you that we have not answered your questions. In fact we have generated MORE questions. But we believe these questions are on a higher plane and will lead to greater understanding."

    In otherwords… yeah… you know MORE if you are more aware of all you don't know…

    Reply
  4. Christina says

    February 8, 2011 at 9:04 pm

    I officially want to find/make a sign that has the quote from Hart's office sign. It seems like the inner-working of my mind put down in a quotation.

    As to your question Nathan, I'd say it makes you wiser. If you picture a wise elderly person, do you picture someone still convinced that they know all or someone convinced that they know very little regardless of their wisdom? I always picture the latter. Those who think they know all things are called adolescents. It's part of why I love my students, they are both unsure of themselves personally and incredibly sure of everything they think they know.

    Reply
  5. Michael G-G says

    February 8, 2011 at 9:26 pm

    At least you've realized this. Some people never do.

    Reply
  6. salima says

    February 8, 2011 at 9:33 pm

    Smarter and wiser!!! Have a listen to Dylan's "My Back Pages." He says it beautifully.:)

    Reply
  7. Bryan Russell (Ink) says

    February 8, 2011 at 9:56 pm

    The older I get, the more I lie to myself. It saves a lot of trouble.

    Reply
  8. Marsha Sigman says

    February 8, 2011 at 10:01 pm

    I was going to be all zen and tell you it means you are wiser…but 50 peeps told you first so nevermind!

    Reply
  9. Rick Daley says

    February 8, 2011 at 10:45 pm

    It's like that scene in "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" when they meet Socrates.

    It says here: "True wisdom lies in knowing that you know nothing." That's us, dude!

    So therefore, according to Socrates, you are getting smarter. Dude.

    Reply
  10. Anne R. Allen says

    February 8, 2011 at 10:56 pm

    Salima beat me to it, but I'll fill in with the Dylan quote: "But I was so much younger then; I'm younger than that now."

    Teenagers are immortal and know everything. Then they start to actually learn stuff.

    Reply
  11. Nicole L Rivera says

    February 8, 2011 at 11:40 pm

    Smarter. You are realizing something new, thats a step in the right direction 🙂 Now you can tackle some of the stuff you don't know and make it stuff you do know.

    Reply
  12. Other Lisa says

    February 8, 2011 at 11:58 pm

    There's some quote that I can't exactly remember, might be Einstein, to the effect that, the greater your sphere of knowledge, the larger the boundaries of your ignorance.

    Something like that, anyway!

    Reply
  13. Arianne says

    February 9, 2011 at 12:15 am

    It's hereditary- remember how little your parents knew when you were a teenager?

    Reply
  14. Arianne says

    February 9, 2011 at 12:15 am

    It's hereditary- remember how little your parents knew when you were a teenager?

    Reply
  15. R Elland says

    February 9, 2011 at 12:26 am

    Wiser. Now you get to figure out more stuff. Oh and enjoy the aches and pains as the body whines about the next class.

    Reply
  16. J. T. Shea says

    February 9, 2011 at 12:33 am

    Another good question, John Jack. And we have just the guy to answer it on the Bransforums. Polymath.

    Reply
  17. Andi says

    February 9, 2011 at 1:40 am

    It means neither, but only that as open-minded as you are, it (your mind) continues to expand and let more possibilities in.

    Reply
  18. jef says

    February 9, 2011 at 1:51 am

    …yes…

    Reply
  19. Anonymous says

    February 9, 2011 at 1:54 am

    Neither.

    It means you're getting better.

    Reply
  20. wendy says

    February 9, 2011 at 2:03 am

    I like what Phil said. Well said, Phil. Also, wonderful quote from Socrates given by Rane.

    It's funny how, as teenagers, we all go through a phase of intoxication with our own self-perceived cleverness. But it's only when we get to the stage you've mentioned, Nathan, that we start to see the enormity of the whole picture. Awareness is everything.

    I realise I know little when it comes to technology, especially. Just received a new android phone, and the learning curve is off the scale…for me. On my old phone I only needed to key in the number. Now I need a Google account and to master many tricky manoeuvres before I can just ring someone. When I was wrestling with the settings, I was given the option of tapping into someone's network down the road. I wonder if someone down the road has been given the option of tapping into my network, too.(Password protected, I know.) However, now I can download ebooks and read them on the phone. Woo.

    Move over, Dick Tracy.

    Reply
  21. Amy Talbot says

    February 9, 2011 at 2:59 am

    Hopefully, wiser.
    (Proverbs 17:28)

    Reply
  22. Transparent Mama says

    February 9, 2011 at 3:47 am

    I say we get smarter because we are less arrogant, more humble. All good.

    Reply
  23. Lucinda Bilya says

    February 9, 2011 at 4:39 am

    Could it be?

    Maybe it is like sailing off the end of the world thinking the world is flat…relief that you didn't fall off the end of the world, and there is a whole new world to be discovered.

    "Awareness helps us see more than we could before."

    word ver: nonqua (is that like a desert?)

    "When we know more, we see more."

    Lucy

    Reply
  24. Heidi says

    February 9, 2011 at 6:36 am

    I don't know, but at least now I know I'm not the only one.

    Reply
  25. Paullina_Petrova says

    February 9, 2011 at 6:43 am

    Just more thirsty for knowledge

    Reply
  26. mkcbunny says

    February 9, 2011 at 6:44 am

    I think that's because the older you get, the more you realize how much there is in the world. No one can possibly know it all. Not that this stops some people from thinking they do. As long as you keep thinking you don't know it all, you're still learning. It's when you stop learning that you're in trouble.

    And like the other "old folks" have commented, this feeling just seems to grow with age. Nearing 50, I just feel more and more like I don't know enough. But maybe that's because I'm job-hunting, which tends to amplify all of this in a depressing way …

    Reply
  27. Tura Lura says

    February 9, 2011 at 7:34 am

    Yes. You are getting one of the two. ^_-

    Reply
  28. Patrick says

    February 9, 2011 at 1:32 pm

    To me, it doesn’t matter. As long as I can still see a pristine fluffy snow bank and want nothing more than to do a somersaulting flip into it, I know I’m doing just fine (regarless of whether I physically can or not). Let the questions about wisdom come and go, because they will do so forever, but never leave a pristine snow bank behind.

    Reply
  29. Bryce Daniels says

    February 9, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    It happens. After a half-century of hanging around, I can sometimes realize I don't know where I left the car keys, what day my anniversary falls on, and if I remembered to take my pills. I can provide you with the name of someone who can vouch for this if you need it.

    Reply
  30. Terin Tashi Miller says

    February 9, 2011 at 2:41 pm

    Unfortunately, it just means what it is…you're getting older…:)

    Best,
    T

    Reply
  31. Samantha G says

    February 9, 2011 at 6:05 pm

    There are two possible explanations to this saying:

    1)You are smart enough to understand you don't know enough- unlike those who are extremly "dumb" to think they know everything.

    2)Everytime you learn something new, you realise how much you will never know about that particular subject.

    P.S- you're only 25? Or are you older and am I having my leg pulled by some of the commenters?

    Reply
  32. Lucy says

    February 9, 2011 at 8:35 pm

    I take comfort in knowing that no one knows very much. But collectively, we know enough.

    Reply
  33. Gillian Perrett says

    February 10, 2011 at 3:12 am

    Not smarter, sorry friend. But more experienced and more aware.

    Reply
  34. Sheila Cull says

    February 10, 2011 at 12:12 pm

    I keep thinking about what you said, "in my old job as a literary agent…" that you enjoyed reading when you weren't forced to.

    That means that the books that we read, usually published from bookstores, are indeed perfect. Hence the enjoyment. What you got as a lit agent wasn't perfect. That's intersting to me.

    Reply
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