The Paradox of Knowing Too Much

A saying goes by, “The more news you consume, the more ignorant you become”. It’s a paradox because, on the surface, it sounds contradictory. How can this be true? More knowledge makes one intelligent but reality? Does it join hands with the idea? For instance, let’s take a person who watches the news daily. Their goal is to keep themselves updated on everything happening around them.

But when you think about it, news mostly delivers the negative aspects of the world. Murder, thefts, assaults, betrayals, and other tragedies are common headlines. As these people absorb this, they are likely to develop a negative picture of the world, viewing it as unsafe and full of problems. Over time, it becomes difficult to erase this gloomy picture from their mind, even though the reality is more complex than just bad news.

When something happens around them, they will only see it from a negative point of view. In contrast, a person who holds a more open perspective will think through more rationally. They make their decisions by considering many opinions. Sometimes, just hearing the news riles us up even though we have never faced it ourselves. Therefore, too much information doesn’t always mean being well informed but it can end up being too corrupted and clouded.

Read More: 10 Signs of Intelligent People, According to Psychology

Real-life example

Sunlight, we all know the benefits of sunlight. For centuries, people used to believe sunlight is good for us and gives a healthy glow-up. So innately we think so too. Later when science advanced, researchers discovered a correlation between sunlight and skin cancer. Then gradually we started seeing sunlight as harmful. Also, we entered a period to avoid the sun and wear sunscreen daily as a routine.

While it’s true that excessive sun exposure can increase the risk of skin cancer, it doesn’t mean sunlight is entirely bad. Too much information, in this case, has caused us to focus only on the negative side, overlooking the full picture. So, while some details are important, an overload of information can mislead us and shape our perceptions in a one-sided way.

The effects of knowing too much

The idea of knowing too much is an interesting one and raises questions philosophical, psychological, and even existential. Essentially, it focuses on the theme of knowledge and the risk associated with its attainment or pursuit. Here are a few ways to unpack the paradox:

1. Knowledge and Uncertainty

The more knowledge we gain, the more information we discover about how many things we are still in the dark about. In other words, it means that the more knowledge – the greater the risk and the higher level of uncertainty. Thus, with our growing knowledge of the world, we may wake up to the degree of ignorance that overwhelms us from time to time with existential concern or fear. This is sometimes called the “wisdom paradox” because on the one hand wisdom and understanding may enhance the possibility of sensitive registration of existential values.

Read More: How Fear, Uncertainty, and Trust Shape Buying Behavior in Crises

2. Burden of Responsibility

Knowledge also comes with what can be termed as right or wrong responsibility or moral responsibility. For instance, there are instances when being aware of the suffering in the world, pollution of the environment, or injustice may provoke one to change yet the problems can be enormous. At times, this awareness results in poor decision-making and decision-makers may fail to take action feeling that nothing will change. The more you know the less it becomes possible to turn a blind eye or run away from the responsibility that is brought along by information.

3. The “Curse” of Knowledge

The ‘curse of knowledge’ is that the specialist is no longer able to say anything about the field in question to a layman because he assumes that everyone knows what he knows. This can pose a challenge in terms of joining the two worlds of the layman and the expert for the latter comes out feeling so lonely or frustrated. The more people become knowledgeable the more it becomes a challenge to make decisions that are well understood and acceptable to everyone.

4. Overload and Paralysis

That manner noticed that in the modern world this amount of information, in front of us as consumers, can cause cognitive overload. The problem here is that exposure to this sea of availability may limit our ability to make distinct choices as we get drowned in a deluge of information, views, and choices. At times it is possible to have too much of a good thing; the more knowledge we have in certain situations the less likely we are to know what to do next or be willing to take action due to the overwhelming or risky options.

Read More: The Psychology Behind Meeting Overload

5. Affective Disconnect

The more knowledge one has about a given problem or an issue the harder it gets to emotionally connect with it. For example, in such careers as a doctor, lawyer, social worker, or business person one might become anaesthetized or alienated because of experiencing pain and unfairness daily. The problem here lies in the fact that the more an individual is involved in a certain subject the less he or she may empathize with the feeling as they lock themselves up emotionally to handle all the complications.

6. The Illusion of Control

As promising as the idea that an increased amount of information provides more control, there seems to be a certain ironic aspect to this notion. That is where knowledge may turn into something quite opposite to power, showing that we are often mere subjects or objects of various processes, this or that form of knowledge may help us find out that the changes within a system are virtually impossible, as it is the case with climate science. 

7. Loss of Innocence

Education also means the loss of ignorance. This notion is quite familiar to readers and philosophers, as wisdom is associated with a sort of sin, such as the Biblical story of Adam and Eve or the Prometheus myth. So, the more you become knowledgeable, the better you cannot approach life with childishness or naivete.

Read More: Why do Some People Lack Empathy?: Psychologist Speaks

Sagacious dogmatism 

The world is continuously veering towards “sagacious dogmatism”. The term is a paradox in itself. “Sagacious” means having good mental discernment and being shrewd while “dogmatism” is the tendency to lay down principles as undeniably true without any considerations. This term captures the essence of this topic. Some people are too much confident in their knowledge that they mistake false certainty for sagacity. They believe their views are undeniably right but in reality, they are just closing themselves off from gaining true enlightenment.

Read More: 10 Traits of Introverted Leaders, According to Psychology

Conclusion

Knowing a lot can help us understand the world better, but it can also make us feel stuck, anxious, or overwhelmed. The more we learn, the more we realize how much we don’t know or can’t control. The deeper we go into any topic, the more complicated and confusing it can get, which can feel both eye-opening and unsettling at the same time.

FAQs

1. What is the paradox of knowing too much?

Gaining too much is often considered a positive asset, however in some contexts acquiring too much knowledge might be overwhelming and lead to negative consequences like confusion, paralysis, and many more. This is the paradox of knowing too much.

2. How can knowing too much lead to confusion?

When an individual acquires too much knowledge, he might find it difficult to process and make sense of it all. It might affect their cognitive abilities making decision-making difficult.

3. What are the psychological effects of knowing too much?

The psychological effects can include cognitive overload, anxiety, difficulty in decision-making, existential distress, and many more. 

4.What is sagacious dogmatism?

“Sagacious” means having good mental discernment and being shrewd while “dogmatism” is the tendency to lay down principles as undeniably true without any considerations. The term means being too much confident in their own knowledge that they mistake false certainty for sagacity.