The Knowledge Illusion - "We think we know a lot , even though individually we know very little , because we treat knowledge in the mind of others as if it were our own." 

This is an extract from a book I'm currently reading “ 21 Lessons for the 21st century ” by Yuvah Noah Harari. 

According to the author here individual humans know very less but act as if they know a lot. When we apply that to our own lives it's very true. 

Our ancestors individually knew much more than we as individuals do. As an individual they knew how to hunt, how to gather food, they knew how to grow food ,how to raise cattle , how to wade of predators etc. They were more aware of the surroundings then we are are individuals.

But we as an individual how much do we know. I for an instance don't know how to cook food , but i do know where to find it albeit it's store near my house run by another human . But what if there was no vegetable store around? 

The growth of humanity has not been because of the growth of one individual. Though individually our ancestors knew more than us but collectively they are no where near to us . 

In today's world it's not necessary to know about everything. Even though i dont know how to cook , i can easily go through my daily life without the need for cooking . 

The knowledge illusion assumes dangerous proportions when it teems up with arrogance . When individually I'm not competent in a particular field but I assume that i know and I'm surrounded by yes men who want to please me at every possible instance , this is recipe for disaster .  

An extract from the books very well explains this - “ People rarely appreciate their ignorance , because they lock themselves inside an echo-chamber of like minded friends and self-confirming new feeds , where their beliefs are constantly reinforced and seldom challenged. ” 

This generally happens with people in powerful positions. Best example is the current Covid crisis. This is a crisis a single man can't solve. All those in leadership positions need to understand this. And if we are surrounded by yes men who say things that we want to hear then we cannot grow as individuals. Will never understand the real problems and thereby never find the solutions. This way the leaders drift away from reality and eventually drift away from power . 

It's not only true about leaders or people in powerful positions. Even as individuals it's always better to know and appreciate our ignorance rather than being arrogant enough to acknowledge it . 

As Stephen Hawking rightly said - "The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.”