Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do. — Isaac Asimov



This should be a daily reminder for everyone on the planet: Be aware of our tendency to oversimplify. And our tendency to be overconfident.

It is tempting to extrapolate based on the overly-simplified principles, while not understanding the consequences or the boundary of your knowledge.

 Nassim Taleb labels this tendency "epistemic arrogance". I think it's brilliant. It is concise. And it's got an intellectual ring to it that appeals to its target audience — otherwise smart people.



Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe. — Albert Einstein



We feel empowered by science to isolate a single element of instrumental value and manipulate it to our liking. After all, look at all the engineering wonders around us!

But is a temptation we must actively resist. There are more ways to be wrong than you can imagine. There are many critical questions that you don't even know to ask. We could all use a healthy dose of respect for the unknown unknowns.