The Beauty of What We’ll Never Know

Sometimes transformation can be facilitated not by knowledge, but the lack of knowledge. In this novel and intriguing TED talk, Pico Iyer discusses the flip side of knowledge on the self-discovery coin. “The opposite of knowledge … isn’t always ignorance. It can be wonder. Or mystery. Possibility. And in my life, I’ve found it’s the things I don’t know that have lifted me up and pushed me forwards much more than the things I do know. It’s also the things I don’t know that have often brought me closer to everybody around me.” Instead of striving to become settled, he argues, we should venture forth into the unknown, which is fertile ground for many of life’s most rewarding experiences. While knowledge might be useful, what we don’t know can be equally valuable — and actually quite beautiful.