Why is it that when a person says "I don't know"...

Maimi!! You live!! hehe I know what you mean. I dont like that either. Im not one bit shy to say I dont know, tell me. Whos getting on your nerves hon? Bay Lay Gray xx

In Zen, it is said that the perfect state to be in is the state of not knowing. Then we experience life fresh and new in each moment.. :-)

Hello miamilady,Thanks for your post.I think people are much more smarter and honest who admits they dont know rather than people who pretends to be smarter by putting others down even if might they themselves are wrong.Thanks.

I know I answer I dont know aobut something in here and then I go on to tel what I do know on most posts lol

I'm totally with you miami! I've always been the first to admit when I don't know, but also willing to direct you where the answer can be located. My boss is the perfect example for your conversation. He thinks he knows everything, even when half the time he has no clue what he is talking about. over the years it has led to an overall disrespect amongst his peers, and some clients.

I don't believe that most people react as though the person is ignorant if they give a response of "I don't know," miamilady. The truth is that it is a weak response. I recall a teacher I had in elementary school who would not accept that as an answer. You were, in fact, punished if you gave that answer when he asked you a question. It happened to me once and I vowed to learn as much as I could about everything I could in order to not find myself in that position again. It's true that we don't know everything, but there is a wealth of information out there if we are willing to seek answers.

I know what you are talking about. If I don't know, I'm gonna say I don't know. I know people who think they know it all and it gets on my nerves. They will argue you down that they are right when you know its not. I'd rather look stupid from not knowing than from thinking I know when I don't.

I know alot of people like that and I dont let them get on my nerves. I just laugh at them. God forbid they be wrong about something!LOL To them it would be like the end of the world. Right? Let it go life is too short to worry about these kind people. Be happy enjoy life.

I say I don't know all the time. I do not see it as an admission of being ignorant. It is only the ego that dreads saying I don't know because it does not want to look bad in front of others. Saying I don't know is much better than making up lies. And sometmes what we think we know isn't accurate or complete. If I say I don't know, then I don't care what anyone else thinks of me.

It depends on what they mean. If someone asks me if I will be able to make it someplace tomorrow, and I say, "I don't know," then that is an acceptable response because something will come up, just as same as if I do not know if I will be able to donate $10 to a charity since it might be that I may need the money for something else. However if someone asks me where my purse is, and it is right where it has always been and I saw "I don't know," then my ignorance is showing. So to not confuse the issue with will I be alive tomorrow, etc, and know it alls being snobs, I believe my answer shows a good degree of practicality as to what response makes the most sense.

can you believe it there are a lot of people like that where I used to work. and they were actually asking me things that were not my job, even if it was my job I never actually had a problem with it so I wondered why they encountered problems so hard they had to ask me. Then if we asked them questions, even if it was their job and they did know something about it since they dealt with it every day, they would say they didn't know, maybe just to get back to me. I wondered how these people kept their jobs and how they actually got promoted. I wasn't surprised I was not the only one wondering this. But you know what whatever or whoever got on your nerves, they are not worth your time and certainly not your sleep. If they make you feel like you know less, that's good, tell everyone to ask them and not you. You'll get more rest and peace minding your own business that way.

most really smart people DO use that phrase if someone says that often, then when they do tell you something, they probably DO know something about it I always admired teachers who would say that, instead feeling they had to know everything and would make up some bogus thing

Yes, I run into these type of people every once in a while also! But,I try my darndest to not let it get on my nerves, I try to just brush it off, and tell myself that it's not worth letting it get to ya'!

Grrrrr! I work with chicks like that and it very aggravating. They sigh and roll their eyes if someone doesn't know something, like they know anymore than anyone else! I know they don't. Admitting when you don't know something goes a lot farther than making crap up to seem as if you do know everything.

I think a lot of people today can't say they don't know and would rather pretend they do and bluff their way out of it, I see no shame to say I don't know, I think you learn more that way. You are right no- one knows everything there is so much out there that we block and don't let our selves know about, but there are a lot of know it alls out there...

I'm a person who believes that only when you have reached a certain level of knowledge do you mature enough to recognise how little we actually do know. The world is full of so much that we have many opportunities to learn. How many of us are capable or willing to make the most of them however, is very questionable. The truth of it is that an imature soul finds it extremely difficult to accept ignorence, the ego just doesnt allow it. In time, many of us grow, only then do we recognise the ultimate futility of our own knowledge. Instead of holding knowledge for ourselves, we need to recognise that only collectively do we see the whole, otherwise our knowledge is simply a displaced reflection, a reflection of the truth but only as a broken glass reflects. Do not condemn those who claim ultimate knowledge, for they are but children. Spiritually they have not yet progressed to the extent that they are able to see the depth of their own ignorence. Maybe they are just not equipped for it. Happier in their ignorent splendour of absolute faith and knowledge blessed be

Anyone who acts like they know everything is the person I avoid.We all know a lot about the one thing we are good at, but we all can learn more.

i dont know.... lol. well i am a type of person who is also gets angry by people who acts like they know everything. that when i say something like whats that, or i dont know then they acts as if im stupid or dumb. well im not stupid (nobody is stupid) it is that i just dont know and i admit that i dont know. if you will tell me or explain to me what that was then i will have knowledge about it. my older sister always addresses me as stupid, and she doesnt even want to explain it because she always say i wont get it. but i know a lot of things that she don't know but i dont address her as stupid. (but i dont waste my time explaining it to her because i know she will say that "i know that, you dont need to explain it to me, im not stupid", just to cover herself because she really doesnt know it)

I was always told that not knowing is not a sign of ignorance but a sign of intelligence for understanding what you don't know. It takes a lot of courage at times to admit you don't know, because of people that "do know". I have always been the one to say what I mean and mean what I say, which has subsequently made me an unpopular person, but I still stand by my convictions. Another thought that kind of goes hand in hand with this one is opinions that can't be changed. You and someone else have different opinions, but the other person's is the only right one....now that is a sign of ignorance.

That's a great point! I hate it when someone asks me a question at work that I don't know the answer to because you have to try to come up with some answer that skirts around the fact that you don't know! it's so draining! if only I could say 'I don't know'