What Three Words Can Make You Instantly Smarter?

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What are the three words can you utter to make you instantly more smarter?

Simple...I Don't Know!

Is it possible that this can be true? YES!

Even though these are simple words, too many find them impossible to say.

Will these three words actually make you instantly smarter? Well maybe not, but they really can have the ability to make you appear more intelligent.

This seems counter-intuitive.

It would seem that by admitting that you are not in possession of a particular piece of information, you would be looked at as inferior by others. Actually, quite the opposite is true. This is what makes you human and honest. Others can relate. In fact, it's refreshing.

Everyone knows on a subconscious level that no human being knows everything. It resonates with others on a higher level when another person offers up this self evident truth. It seems that when given the opportunity to be bold and state the obvious, sometimes people let pride get in the way.

Typically, only people who are confident in their intelligence will be able to admit when they don't know the answer to something. It is actually a sign of strength rather than weakness as some might fear.

Most of the time, these same three words will also send you into a fact finding mission.

When those three words are uttered, the mind must be open to more and new information. In fact it creates a knowledge vacuum. The awareness of a lack of knowledge begs to be filled with accurate information.

This indeed will add to your knowledge base, thus adding the capacity to better decipher more information...making you in fact...smarter!

When many people are posed with a question that they can't answer, sometimes they feel a need to protect their ego. Pretending to know, they must think that the way to look smart is to come up with something...anything to say. They believe that when they say whatever it is that pops into their head in the moment, they're somehow relieving the pressure of not actually knowing. I guess that they don't want to look foolish.

This misguided thinking has led people to give answers that at times have bordered on lunacy. We've all experienced this...when we are certain that what we just heard could not possibly be correct and in fact made no sense at all. Of course, clarification should be in order, however if clarifying doesn't help then the answer received must be disregarded.


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On the other hand, it can be extremely damaging if the misinformation is from a perceived reliable source and is being used to form an important decision.

How much more respect do you have for the person who decided not to steer you in in the wrong direction and instead told you that they would get back to you.

How irritating is it to find out that you have based your actions on what someone had dreamed up to placate you in the moment. If you are given directions that will never get you to your desired destination, you can travel forever lost.

Unfortunately, this not only plagues "regular" people, but can also infect some of the people that we depend upon to have important answers for us...sometimes life and death. Sometimes the answer that is given is based on what the giver vaguely thinks is true or believes is most probable and then stated as though it were fact.

The truth is that we don't know what we don't know. The more that we learn, the more that we realize that. In fact, it is unbelievably presumptuous to think that any of us should even have a need to be portrayed as someone who has all of the answers. I believe that it was Zig Ziglar who said that a know it all is someone who has stopped learning...because they think that they already know everything that they need to know!

At one time, everyone thought that the earth was flat. This was mass misinformation based on what was deemed to be the most logical conclusion at the time. As we now know, this is not the case.

History always repeats itself.

This leads us to ask how many "truths" that are commonly accepted are of the modern "earth is flat" variety. When scientists are being paid large sums to study a subject based on a certain hypothesis, it can be very difficult if the answer in the end still is "I don't know".

"Facts" can and do change. Keep an open mind. Be on the lookout for when perceptions transform and we can see things from a new vantage point.

Even though it can seem like the pressure to say something...anything just to give an answer, is sometimes great, "I don't know" can be the smartest answer that you can give.