First Time You Realized Your Own Ignorance

[elfmotat]

When did you first realize how little you truly know?

 

I was ~17, and decided to study special relativity because my high school physics class didn't go over it in any detail. I went through Taylor/Wheeler's "Spacetime Physics" pretty quickly, so I thought it would be pretty easy to learn GR. I bought a copy of Wald's book (not recommended for beginners), glanced through it a bit, and I suddenly realized that I actually knew close to nothing about physics. It's been ~4 years since then, and I'm definitely way more knowledgeable than I was, but I'm still blown away whenever I start thinking about how much is left to be learned.

 

Anyone have any similar experiences with science-related ego-destruction?

[Phi for All]

The first time ever, I was 14. I was in Italy with a charter group from the US that included my parents. We were having lunch in a restaurant but I was sitting at a different table than my folks (yes, she was very cute). When the check came at the end of the meal and an older gentleman told me what my portion of it was, I replied, "Don't look at me!" There was an embarrassed silence before he went to the other table to get some cash from my folks, and I was profoundly struck by the juvenile, pampered, ignorant response I'd given. From that day forward, I made sure I always pulled my own weight and didn't look to my parents for every little detail.

 

The first time it was science-related that I can remember was at least 25 years ago, when I heard a man describe why the sky was blue. There was so much information in that explanation that I didn't remember from school. I knew I was ignorant about a lot of science that I should have paid more attention to when it was being taught to me.

[Sato]

I was ~14 and tried to work through a mathematically rigorous text "Introduction to Vectors and Matrices", and it took me a few hours to get through each page. More than just being ignorant to facts, I realized how little grasp I had on formalism and the idea of mathematics itself.

 

At the time I was primarily interested in theoretical physics and was browsing the physics/astronomy/cosmology section of the library, for the most part filled with pop-science books, and spotted a book a few feet away in the mathematics section. It had a cover that looked like a bunch of green numbers streaming down in vertical lines over a black space as well as the word "Matrix" in the title, so I took a look. I thought that the content, after skimming through the first few pages, looked interesting, at least to whatever extent I could appreciate it at the time (maybe the idea of grids of numbers sounded cool). Unfortunately that seemed to not be an introduction, so I found a book beside it with a similar title, and took a jab at it. And, well, the first paragraph of this post describes how that went.

[Unity+]

I experienced this feeling when I was in highschool. My geometry teacher told us that there was no pattern for pi and if there were to be a pattern for pi and we found it there would be a lot of money involved. Being curious about this, I decided to go through each number in Pi. Thinking I found a pattern, I presented it to him and became embarrassed because it was just me thinking I had found one when I didn't. Ever since then, I have been interested in Mathematics and realized my ignorance of it. In fact, my love for the subject comes from the mystery involved.

[fiveworlds]

Maybe just that there is at least 6498 languages I don't know.

Edited October 25, 2014 by fiveworlds

[For Prose]

Yesterday. No but seriously, I realized it around 13 when reading about Socrates journey around the village and relays to the court:

 

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

 

Made me really reflect what I thought I knew and in part is what drew me further to the sciences.

[elfmotat]

I was ~14 and tried to work through a mathematically rigorous text "Introduction to Vectors and Matrices", and it took me a few hours to get through each page. More than just being ignorant to facts, I realized how little grasp I had on formalism and the idea of mathematics itself.

 

I've heard it said that notation is half the battle, and that's certainly true in my case. A lot of the time math and physics equations aren't nearly as intimidating or complicated as they seem once you're familiar with the notation.

[zapatos]

I remember sometime during my undergraduate studies when it occurred to me that every single course I took, no matter what level it was, was simply an introductory course to some more advanced topic. It seemed like every chapter in every book contained a topic that by itself could be the focus of years of study.

[davidivad]

when i started college and began writing and criticizing the works of others.

i saw a trend.

a man that cannot see himself cannot see the world around him.

Edited October 25, 2014 by davidivad

[DimaMazin]

I don't know what causes success in science, but I think scientist should use any right and wrong things for achievement of discovery. Some scientists know many bright scientific things, but don't try to make discovery.This is ignorance also.

Edited October 26, 2014 by DimaMazin

[ajb]

I do not remember when I first felt like that; but for sure I get reminded of my ignorance every day.

[Robittybob1]

I do not remember when I first felt like that; but for sure I get reminded of my ignorance every day.

Have you got a club. I'd like to join your club.

[ajb]

Have you got a club. I'd like to join your club.

Science Forums is kind of like a club for the ignorant... the idea is that parts of this ignorance get worn away by the input of others. Alas, full ignorance cannot be cured. I fear one will always be delighted by the realisation there is more to the world that one actually knows.

[michel123456]

When did you first realize how little you truly know?

 

I was ~17, and decided to study special relativity because my high school physics class didn't go over it in any detail. I went through Taylor/Wheeler's "Spacetime Physics" pretty quickly, so I thought it would be pretty easy to learn GR. I bought a copy of Wald's book (not recommended for beginners), glanced through it a bit, and I suddenly realized that I actually knew close to nothing about physics. It's been ~4 years since then, and I'm definitely way more knowledgeable than I was, but I'm still blown away whenever I start thinking about how much is left to be learned.

 

Anyone have any similar experiences with science-related ego-destruction?

 

 

On which field?

On human behaviour at the age of 7 (IIRC)

On mathematics at the age of 12.

On latin at the age of 13.(it was resolved for a while but now entirely forgotten)

On chemistry at the age of 14 (still unresolved)

On astronomy I cannot remember I guess at the age of 10,12,

On Flemish language at the age of 15.

On women at the age of 16 (still unresolved)

On politics at the age of 18 (still unresolved)

On marine engineering at the age of 19 (I didn't pursue this field, still ignorant for the most)

On architecture at the age of 18,19,20,21,22

On construction at the age of 19 till today.

On town planning at the age of 23

On military at the age of 24, that inculdes human behaviour

On Architecture (again) at the age of 25

On human (again) and social comportment at the age of 26, when I installed in a foreign country for living.

On politics (again) at the age of 26

On history of civilizations at the age of 27 or so.

On economics at the age of 30.

On physics truly at the age of 40 (see here)

On human (again) behaviour and social comportment on Internet fora at the age of 45 IIRC

On how to survie in crisis time at the age of 49 (the most important point I should have realized at the age of 12).

The same at the age of 50, 51,52,53 54.

On human behaviour and social comportment (again-again) because I started to work for foreign investors in order to resolve the last point.

And I certainly forgot a lot of other fields of knowledge.

Most of them still unresoved. I guess all of them.

Edited October 26, 2014 by michel123456

[John Cuthber]

Presumably the first time I realised my ignorance would have been the first time I asked a question. I'm guessing I'd have been about 2 years old.

[iNow]

I've realized it many times, often everyday (in the same spirit as ajb noted above). Specific to the thread, though, I was fascinated by the concept of time and would sit in on lectures at the university for courses I hadn't registered for, and my ignorance became especially apparent when I sat and listened to John Wheeler lecture at UTexas a few times. What a brilliant man. Loved listening to him, but it definitely reinforced strongly how much I have left to learn.

[mississippichem]

When I first started undergraduate I gained access to a lot of books and journal literature and realized how much science and math that there was to learn. It still feels like an infinite well of stuff to learn. I argue that it still is. I'll hazard a guess that data and knowledge is generated faster than any one person could learn.

[John Cuthber]

I know there's more to knowledge than the stuff in books but...

http://what-if.xkcd.com/76/

[MigL]

After 40 yrs of age the problem is twofold.

You realize that, not only is there so much you don't know, but also how much you're starting to forget.

[imatfaal]

After 40 yrs of age the problem is twofold.

You realize that, not only is there so much you don't know, but also how much you're starting to forget.

QFT +1

[CharonY]

After 40 yrs of age the problem is twofold.

You realize that, not only is there so much you don't know, but also how much you're starting to forget.

 

Actually, I am at a stage when things get better again. I forget what I forgot (although sometimes I find notes on things that made me realize that I looked into it already...).

With regard to OP, I cannot tell the precise time (I forgot) but I know that it was the point that I realized I wanted to be a scientist. Of course, that only means that you are a professional in appreciating what we do not know.

[imatfaal]

 

Actually, I am at a stage when things get better again. I forget what I forgot (although sometimes I find notes on things that made me realize that I looked into it already...).

With regard to OP, I cannot tell the precise time (I forgot) but I know that it was the point that I realized I wanted to be a scientist. Of course, that only means that you are a professional in appreciating what we do not know.

 

 

I was at that stage in my early thirties. I was working on a horribly abstruse and deliberately complex paper and found a badly photocopied but beautifully concise resume/explanation - was very happy as it was just what I needed; was a little disconcerted when a few days later I found that it was my own work from a few years back.

[2501]

I would say the first time I stepped into college I began to realize just how little I actually knew about anything. And not just about the subjects I was studying, but also how little I knew about myself. Right now, I'm not sure which is more gloomy, the fact that I know little about anything, or the fact that I will probably never know much more beyond a specific subfield or specialization that, for some reason, I happen to acquire knowledge in or just really like a lot.

 

At this stage I suppose I've come to the realization that it is better to know alot about one thing, and a little about everything else.

Edited October 31, 2014 by 2501

[Danijel Gorupec]

This freakin mushroom guy...

 

I grow up in socialism where TV shows were much more 'serious' than today. When I was about 12 I considered myself to be the smartest person ever... One day I turned on the TV set and saw this guy talking about fungi (as a part of educational TV program... for geniuses maybe). The guy was talking about 30-40 minutes very intensely, very information rich, very language-efficiently about fungi. And while I didn't understand most of the things the guy said, I understood that my knowledge on the subject is not even comparable. In fact, I was not even aware how much there is to know about fungi (I thought, fugi are just mushrooms, some eadible some not - boring). The guy put me in shame because suddenly all my knowledge about any subject came into question (do I really know what there is to know?).... What finally 'slaughtered' me is when I realized that this is only the first episode (of about 10) the guy is going to have.

[elfmotat]

What finally 'slaughtered' me is when I realized that this is only the first episode (of about 10) the guy is going to have.

 

That's a lot of mushrooms.