The important issue then isn't about the lack of knowledge, but rather about knowing when your knowledge is insufficient. The cargo cults thought they knew everything about building airstrips and attracting planes but their knowledge wasn't the whole story.

Of course, it is difficult to know how extensive ones knowledge is from within the system itself. This is why Socrates famously said that he was wise because he knew that which he did not know.

#617, posted at 2010-09-20 14:50:08 in Language; Literature; Writing