Huh!? That may well be your initial response to the title of this Ponderings. But please bear with me.
A Manila Times article quotes psychology teacher Art Markman:
You probably don’t know as much as you think you do. When put to the test, most people find they can’t explain the workings of everyday things they think they understand.
Don’t believe me? Find an object you use daily (a zipper, a toilet, a stereo speaker) and try to describe the particulars of how it works. You’re likely to discover unexpected gaps in your knowledge. In psychology, we call this cognitive barrier the illusion of explanatory depth. It means you think you fully understand something that you actually don’t.
I find it hard to dismiss the idea. For I often have found myself scrambling for words when asked to describe or explain something I thought I knew. The experience can be quite unsettling and embarrassing, especially when approached by others with the assumption that I am someone knowledgeable on the matter presented.
The issue becomes especially important when it concerns the things I say I believe or the concepts on which I say I am building my faith. The sad truth is that we (yes, me included) often tend to accept and repeat what others have passed on to us (especially if the source is someone we like or admire) without taking the time to truly understand what it really is. And many times we do not even bother to check Scripture for ourselves to see if what we have received is biblically sound (see the example of the Bereans in Acts 17.11). Instead, we become presumptuous about our knowledge.
There is a dangerous consequence to this “illusion of explanatory depth.” Since our choices and conduct will be determined by our false understanding, we end up engaging in things that are contrary to the will of God and a hindrance to the cause of the kingdom. And we end up becoming agents and promoters of a faulty knowledge, passing on falsehood or half-truths without even being aware of it.
The concern isn’t about becoming “experts,” but simply about awareness—an awareness that, hopefully, would lead to inquiry and resolving our “knowledge gap.” When I know what I do not know—and acknowledge it—then I can do something about it. This is a reminder and a call to humble submission to the Lord and to his Word, constantly seeking to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3.18).
—Keith Y. Jainga