Hurrah for ignorance!

I've had to admit to myself that I really don't know much - and actually, that's OK. In fact, it's better than that: there's something very liberating about being able to say 'I don't know,' and being happy and accepting and at peace about it. It's empowering - it paves the way for listening and learning. To quote Frank Herbert, 'If you understand, then you cannot learn. By saying you understand, you construct barriers.'

We're often called upon to have an opinion. 'How do you feel about...?' 'What's your view of...?' Politics, religion, the news, women, men, sport - the list is endless. Well, we know what we think, don't we? Nothing wrong with a healthy exchange of views. Actually what I notice myself doing sometimes is saying what I thought about it last time I thought about it. That could have been six years ago, but at least it gives me something coherent to say. After all, formulating opinions out loud would just look stupid, wouldn't it? Heaven forfend we might have an opinion that's wrong, or looks ill-considered.

So the danger is that the need to know stuff and to have an opinion actually prevents you thinking about things. Now that's REALLY silly. Ignorance is plainly a much higher state of being.