To Know What You Know, and Know What You Do Not

answered by Analects of Confucius, Wei Zheng

기원전 5세기(공자 언행록)

🎬 TODAY'S FILM — IT ASKS THIS

Doubt (2008)

dir. John Patrick Shanley · USA

When we suspect someone without certain proof, is that suspicion a sense of justice, or our own fear? Certainty is strong but can be wrong; doubt is uncomfortable but honest. On what ground do we earn the right to judge another?

THE QUESTION THE FILM ASKS

Drunk on the force of certainty, do I declare that I know what I in fact do not?

THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER · ORIGINAL

知之爲知之

知之爲知之不知爲不知是知也

📜 THE CLASSIC'S ANSWER

To say you know what you know, and know what you do not — that is real knowledge.

💡 TL;DR

Confucius found real knowledge in admitting what one does not know.

📝The Classic Answers

Confucius found real knowledge in admitting what one does not know. Doubt is not a lack of knowledge but the honesty of not-yet-knowing. When we condemn someone without certain proof, we often mistake certainty for knowledge. Certainty is strong, but its strength does not guarantee the truth. Where I would judge a person, I choose to separate what I am sure of from what I actually know, and to honestly admit the gap between.

— ONGO · Curator

🌱Apply It Today

If you made a judgment in certainty today, sort in writing what you 'actually know' from what you 'merely feel sure of.'

📖 Classic Source: Analects of Confucius, Wei Zheng. Ancient text in the public domain; rendered and interpreted independently by ONGO.
The film is honored as an equal questioner; its plot is rendered only as a universal dilemma. The classic source is an ancient text (Public Domain), and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.