can you hear me now?
Anton: so why does it hurt?
You: I’m trying to stop saying “I don’t know;” it leaves me feeling like there’s something wrong with me for not knowing all there is to know. Some people —perhaps due to fear of being labeled deaf, blind, mute, or the simpleton— avoid saying “I don’t know” by… acting like they’re deaf, blind, mute, or simpletons.
I just don’t get this. There’s no shame in not knowing. Knowledge is not a commodity, nor should it be treated as such. I *love* the way other cultures self-disclose that the speaker does not know all there is to know.
My two favorites: Down here in the south, some folk say “Beats the hell out of me.” Middle-eastern cultures (well, at least the Arabic and Jewish ones) say “God knows.”
I asked you ”why does it hurt that it doesn’t hurt?” Your reply was to ask ”so why does it hurt?”
Here’s my answer: “Beats the hell out of me” and “God knows” Can you tell me why? Why does it hurt?
Anton: maktub, some people say, which means something like fate. others will say you do not exist, so absence of pain is only natural - how can pain exist when there is nobody there to feel it? you just have to realize it.
You: Ah. That helps a lot. Thank you.
