“The problem with experts is that they do not know what they do not know”

—  Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Source: The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable

Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The problem with experts is that they do not know what they do not know" by Nassim Nicholas Taleb?
Nassim Nicholas Taleb photo
Nassim Nicholas Taleb 196
Lebanese-American essayist, scholar, statistician, former t… 1960

Related quotes

“The problem of quality management is not what people don't know about it. The problem is what the think they do know.”

Philip B. Crosby (1926–2001) Quality guru

Source: Quality Is Free, 1977, p. 13

Elizabeth Gilbert photo

“I am not an expert at praying, as you know. But can you please help me? I am in desperate need of help. I don't know what to do. I need an answer. Please tell me what to do…”

Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love

Source: Eat, Pray, Love

Peter F. Drucker photo

“The problem in my life and other people's lives is not the absence of knowing what to do but the absence of doing it.”

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) American business consultant
Michel Foucault photo

“People know what they do; frequently they know why they do what they do; but what they don't know is what what they do does.”

Michel Foucault (1926–1984) French philosopher

Source: Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason

Confucius photo

“To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

As quoted in Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau, Ch. 1
Attributed

Nicolaus Copernicus photo

“To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.”

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) Renaissance mathematician, Polish astronomer, physician

Confucius, as quoted in Walden (1854) by Henry David Thoreau, Ch. 1
Misattributed

P. D. Ouspensky photo

“The most difficult thing is to know what we do know, and what we do not know.”

P. D. Ouspensky book Tertium Organum

Source: Tertium Organum (1912; 1922), Ch. I
Context: The most difficult thing is to know what we do know, and what we do not know.
Therefore, desiring to know anything, we shall before all else determine WHAT we accept as given, and WHAT as demanding definition and proof; that is, determine WHAT we know already, and WHAT we wish to know.
In relation to the knowledge of the world and of ourselves, the conditions would be ideal could we venture to accept nothing as given, and count all as demanding definition and proof. In other words, it would be best to assume that we know nothing, and make this our point of departure.
But unfortunately such conditions are impossible to create. Knowledge must start from some foundation, something must be recognized as known; otherwise we shall be obliged always to define one unknown by means of another.

Henry David Thoreau photo

“Confucius said, "To know that we know what we know, and that we do not know what we do not know, that is true knowledge.”

Henry David Thoreau book Walden ou la vie dans les bois

Source: Walden

Nelson DeMille photo

“The problem with doing nothing is not knowing when you are finished.”

Nelson DeMille (1943) American writer

Variant: The problem with doing nothing is that you never know when you're finished.

Related topics