A Block of Everything
The Grasshopper had an interesting observation the other day: “Knowing everything can cost you everything.”
Like most of his spontaneous morsels, this one needed time to marinate.
I don’t think he meant “know-it-alls.” They’re just people who are afraid they don’t know enough and overcompensate. They remind me of the expression I remember from the military: “He has an alligator mouth and a hummingbird’s ass.”
Knowing everything has a ring of superiority to it. Here was an eye-opening characterization leveled at me in the past. The person said, “You approach everything like this: I know everything, you know nothing; let’s begin from there.”
I can tell you from long experience that that’s quite a repellent. People move away from someone with that mindset.
Knowing is solid; learning is porous.
You need porosity in order to mingle with others, so that you have common areas, otherwise you’re just a block over in the corner only able to share your knowing with yourself.
Other people know lots. You’ll never get what they know if you pretend you know everything about them. That mindset will get them to move away in a hurry and all you are left with are impressions that impress no one.
Learning is always a journey and never a destination. You stop learning when you are all-knowing and the acceptance you seek will remain hidden because a block of knowing is hard to hug.
All the best,
John
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