Senior government and politics major
I started scrolling through an Internet thread asking users what surprised them most about getting old, in hopes of picking up some tips. The best comment, however, was something I already knew well: “Nobody has any idea what they’re doing.”
Honestly, at 21 years of age, this is the truest thing I can tell you.
If we want to state this fact in a slightly more eloquent, less abrupt manner, we can quote Greek philosopher (and star of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) Socrates, who quipped, “Wisest is he who knows he does not know.”I don’t mean to call you stupid, readers, but let’s be honest. If we momentarily set aside philosophical questions about what is possible to really “know,” ignore the idea that widely accepted scientific theories “are just theories” and look at the amount of learnable data that exists, we basically don’t know any of it. Statistically speaking, I am unaware of about 100 percent of what’s out there. (Billions of light years of space, millions of years of history, thousands of people living all around me, hundreds of languages dead and alive, three seasons of Arrested Development, every day new and unfamiliar situations, the meaning of life; still the question.) The universe is a big place, and even if our individual knowledge rounds down to zero, collectively humans are doing an OK job.
My vast lack of anything resembling knowledge has forced me to place a premium on mindsets and attitudes. Even if I don’t know almost all the “what” in the universe, I can focus on the “how” — as in how to think — and can get by just fine. Being abroad has totally confirmed two virtues I consider potentially the most important.
1. Don’t pretend.
2. Don’t expect.
The first seems like a fairly reasonable follow-up to, “Wisest is he …” You don’t know what the heck is going on, so don’t pretend like you do. Don’t pretend to be cool or smart or tough. Just embrace the not-knowing.
This has been the No. 1 asset in my quest to learn a second language. I go into every class and each experience totally aware I am going to look all kinds of stupid trying to say things in Spanish. I’m totally OK with this though, because the simple fact is: I am stupid. I don’t pretend I’m not an American or a tourist, I just try my best. I feel as if I’ve made a lot of friends by not being afraid of how dumb I’ll inevitably look. I am starting to learn when to be fearless and when to be patient (Answer: both, all the time).
The second item might seem a little stranger, but it’s a big part of why I enjoy mostly everything and am rarely disappointed. Spiritual teacher J. Krishnamurti once revealed his secret to success: “I don’t mind what happens,” he said. Me neither. I can’t complain about what’s going on as I am aware that I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is virtually everything happens independent of me, so I let it happen.
If all I can control is what is going on in my head right now, I am certainly not predicting the future. Thus, I’ll make right now good. This mindset has been instrumental in taking advantage of my time in Spain so far. I tried my best to avoid creating idealistic notions of what my trip would be like, and did a pretty good job.
Thus, every experience has been new and naturally, was better than I could have imagined. Nothing has been disappointing or worse than I had hoped. Without the invented reference point of expectation, nothing is ever bad.
I may never know much of anything, but that’s all I need to know.
Jake DeVirgiliis is a senior government and politics major. He can be reached at devirgiliis@umdbk.com.
