The Case for Teaching Ignorance : Summary & Response

Jaime Holmes suggests that it is in fact beneficial to teach about ignorance in her article entitled, The Case for Teaching Ignorance. Holmes begins by mentioning Professor Marlys H. Witte, who says that it is important to realize the limits of knowledge as well as  appreciate and attend to questions just as much as the answers. She goes on to speak of Stuart J. Firestein, a neuroscientist, who believes that scientific facts are not solid or unchangeable, rather they are to be challenged and revised by each generation. Holmes then presents the idea that answers do not just resolve questions, they also create more questions; the more we know, the more we can ask. While bringing up this point, Holmes brings up Michael Smithson’s metaphor of knowledge as an island and the shoreline being the meeting place between knowledge and ignorance, as the island grows so does the shoreline, so as knowledge expands so does the room fro questions to be asked.  Holmes brings up this metaphor throughout her article, once again when she is saying that people feel safer in the middle of the island, where ignorance is furthest away. Holmes goes on to say that agnatology, the study of ignorance, must include emphasis on the unknown, the importance of the relation and interplay between questions and answers, and the psychology of ambiguity. She concludes her article by stating that we must begin to view ignorance as regular and be more curios.
A quote that resonated with me was when Holmes says, “She wanted her students to recognize the limits of knowledge and to appreciate the questions often deserve as much attention as answers.” I agree with Holmes and Witte, who she is referring to, that we cannot focus on just learning what has already been discovered because at some point, we will know everything that has been discovered and we will have nothing else to learn. Additionally, it provoked the importance of questioning and that things are ever changing, so we cannot just accept what we already know because at some point everything will change and we will know very little if we do not appreciate the importance of questions. Questions also are useful as motivation; they make us want to know more because we know that there is potential to know more. Although, if we do not appreciate the questions, the right questions will be harder to know to ask. This quote makes me think about what is important in knowledge, whether the questions are the reason for knowledge, or the answers, and how interdependent the two are.
“…in recent years scholars have made a convincing case that focusing on uncertainty can foster latent curiosity, while emphasizing clarity can convey a warped understanding of knowledge,” says Holmes in her article. This quote challenges my beliefs and assumptions about knowledge and ignorance.  I believe that there is a healthy amount of curiosity for people to have in order to learn and continue to want to learn, but too much curiosity can make you uncertain of everything you know, of your choices. This quote suggests that curiosity is healthy and assurance is not, but I believe that assurance is necessary for people to discover, to confidently carry out their work as well as their life. I believe that it is necessary to emphasize clarity, but also to know that there is more to know, that what is known is clear, but more can be discovered.