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The I KNOW Syndrome and How It Is Making Us Foolish and Stupid (By Shamala Tan)



I don't know if this is a teenage thing, but my daughter for a period of time keeps saying I KNOW, whenever I tell her something. Or if I see that she's out of line I'll say something and she says in an agitated tone, I KNOW!

One day, I reprimanded her for using too much data Instagramming when she was out (it was an ongoing issue). She can have unlimited wifi at home so she should just wait till she gets home. Of course, she replied I KNOW, I'm sorry, just to cut me off.

I responded immediately: It is not enough to say sorry, you say sorry all the time but you still do not do the right thing. If you are really sorry then do the right thing and I know you are really sorry. Plus saying I KNOW only makes you foolish because you will cut people off and you will stop learning and listening because you think you know when you don't. And you do not even know the reason why I am restricting your data usage.

From that day on, she has not been liberal with her I KNOW! This is my teenage daughter and I am here to guide her which I am grateful for. But she is just one mild example of one having the I KNOW syndrome.

In our information age, how many adults have you met with the I KNOW syndrome? It is mind-boggling. I meet at least one I KNOW syndrome about once in every two days.

Why do people say I know when they don't? It is because the internet dispenses information like sugar in a candy store. Most people devour information like it is biblical truth. Information is just information. Information is not wisdom. Information does not make you smarter. Information certainly does not offer much guidance when it comes to living life fully.

This is the same as people having a mobile phone camera thinking they have become professional photographers. Or buying a graphic design app and think they have become graphic designers. How arrogant the human mind has become!

I have witnessed that those who often say I KNOW are usually those who are stagnated, they have not developed further on their path, they have become stale and they are frustrated. The thing is they do not realise that they have become their worst enemy because of their arrogance.

I have always been fond of people who are open to learning no matter how old they are! One of my best clients are those whom many would consider having reached the age of wisdom -- and yet they are so open to learning. They are not afraid to appear silly with their questions, because they have a genuine desire to learn in their quest for personal development.

The I KNOW syndrome makes us believe that we have all the knowledge and wisdom. Wisdom is wisdom only when information and knowledge is internalised to make real. We have to apply the information to make it real. The internet offers information only for your reading pleasure, it does not make it real for you in your life.

So watch for the I KNOW syndrome, and watch that it does not lead you down the path of foolishness, it could cost you your inner peace and long term happiness.



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