Why do we fall into this trap of thinking there’s nothing left to learn? We have a bad habit of focusing more on the books we’ve read, the ideas we’ve already explored, than accepting our ignorance and keeping ourselves open to new ideas.
Everything seems like a competition todays. We’re constantly competing for attention, for confirmation of our achievements, and validation of our self-worth. When it comes to knowledge, this translates into hyper-focusing on the number of books we’ve read. The more we’ve read, the more knowledge we’ve gained, right?
Not only that, we’re scared to embrace our limited understanding and accept that we might be wrong. We cling to ideas we’ve been exposed to, even illogical ones, simply because they’re comfortable and familiar. As soon as we reach an idea or belief, we cling to it with all our might.
Luckily for us, there may be an antidote.
In his book The Black Swan, Nassim Taleb introduces us to the idea of the anti-library, a collection of unread books that serves as a reminder of how little we really know.
Taleb recognized the dangers of complacency when it comes to knowledge. He shows us the tragedies we create by ignoring our ignorance. When we convince ourselves we have nothing left to learn, we close off our minds to anything foreign and prove ourselves right. We look at the books we’ve read and tell ourselves wow, we sure do know a lot.
Sorry to break it to you but no, no you don’t.
Take a quick trip to your public library. Do you see how many books there are? And those are just the books that are already written and published – thousands upon thousands of books are being pumped out every single year. Even if everyone were to stop publishing books, you would not be able to read what’s been written in whatever time you have left here.
Can’t make it to the library? Pick a nonfiction book from your bookshelf and jump to the bibliography. See how many books were used to make just that one? Reading is like trying to fight the Hydra of Greek lore – for every one you conquer, two more pop up for you to tackle.
Why the hell would you ever tell yourself that you have nothing left to learn?
The anti-library serves as a reminder of how little we really know. Each unread book on the shelf represents an unmarked land we have yet to explore. It keeps us humble, reminding us that no matter how much we’ve read, we are far from competent and still have much more to learn.
From now on, start embracing your unread books and your to-be-read list. Every time you finish a book, glance at all that you still have yet to read. Remind yourself that somewhere in that stack of books might be an idea that challenges and breaks the way you view the world for the better.
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