You Don't Know? That's Okay

Let me begin this post by saying that if you are not following the Lifehacker page on Facebook, you are missing out on a lot of helpful tips. That being said, Lifehacker recently posted an illuminating article entitled, “Why Saying ‘I Don't Know’ Adds Credibility.” According to this article, people are actually more inclined to believe you if you admit when you don't know the answer to a question, because you are less likely to come off as pretending to know it all, and will trust you to research the answer to their question and relay it to them at a later point in time.

This certainly feeds into the present generation's desire for “authenticity” (however that word may be defined). More importantly, for those who are zealous to provide answers for why they believe what they believe, it helps to make sure that one's zeal is tempered with humility. After all, the Bible states, “even zeal is not good without knowledge” (Proverbs 19:2, HCSB). Of course, there will always be those who will twist your “I don't know”s in a negative light, but such people should not bother you. The important thing is maintaining one's intellectual integrity, and admitting the limitations of one's knowledge (and promising to study and learn more where one's knowledge is lacking) is an important step towards that.

In summary: Don't be afraid to admit that you don't know something from time to time. If you do, that makes you more believable, and you become all the better for it.