You probably don’t know as much as you think you do. Neither do I. But we humans tend not to think about that. We are a pretty self-assured bunch.
So pervasive is this human habit that many have researched this phenomenon. In one Yale study, students were asked to rate their understanding of many everyday devices, things like toilets and zippers. Then they were tasked with completing detailed explanations about how each worked. They were then asked to reassess and re-rate their understanding. Not surprisingly, the original assessment dropped considerably when faced with the reality of their knowledge (or lack thereof). This same type of experiment has been replicated with other topics like science, psychology, and politics. The official psychological term for this is called the “cognitive barrier of explanatory depth,” and it relates to how people tend to overestimate their understanding of a topic, concept, or process. Note-we all do this to some extent.
After all, beliefs are powerful things. So powerful, in fact, actual data often can’t change them. When faced with contrary data, we tend to discredit or mold our thinking to reject or conform the belief into an existing system rather than change the belief itself. Thus, beliefs tend to be biased and cognitively unmovable. This doesn’t necessarily make them dysfunctional or wrong, of course. Beliefs can be filled with truth, grace, and hope. It does make them inflexible, though, and that is the real problem.
So, what is really knowing? Typically, we’d define that as a deep understanding of a topic or situation based on evidence, experience, and critical thinking. It implies a level of certainty that comes from having explored a topic thoroughly and considered different perspectives. Really knowing something also involves a willingness to revise your understanding as new information becomes available.
In many ways, the difference between thinking you know something and really knowing is not about what you know but how open you are to changing what you think you know. The last New Moon in Gemini likely asked you to look at this concept. This Full Moon in Capricorn takes it one step further.
The Sabian Symbol for this Full Moon is “A Student of Nature Lecturing,” reiterating this entire theme. We are all students, and we are all teachers. The best of both are grounded in not just the contemplation but the implementation. The doing. The balance between theoretical knowledge and practical experience. The difference between knowing and really knowing is becoming an instrument for our own wisdom as it changes and evolves over time.
Because Capricorn is the part of us that keeps it real. It keeps us seeking the gaps of knowing what we don’t know. That is why the sign is associated with forces like mastery, wisdom, and leadership. To truly teach, we had better know it ourselves. To really teach, we better REALLY know it. In fact, this learn-teach-really-learn-really-teach cycle is always ongoing if we are doing it right. Because the link between teaching and learning is like the space between the inhale and the exhale. We need both for the other to work.
In this way, knowledge is not a destination but a journey. It is an ever-present quest of discovery. Your job is to keep seeking.
“The path of light is a quest for knowledge.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita
~This New Moon occurs at 11° Capricorn.
~If you could use some help figuring out what that all means, Contact Me for a mini chart reading.
~Photo by Anthony Cantin on Unsplash
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