When we are asked for help to do something, sometimes we reply with a “I don’t know”. Why?
I’ve been observing this amongst people around me since young and I wonder why.
I’ve always been curious about how things around me work, and so whenever someone ask me for help which involves something I do not know about, I would reply that “I can try”. And more often than not, just making an attempt to try to help is comforting for people, much less when you do succeed. The upside is that you not only help someone, you also learn something new along the way.
Saying “I don’t know” is really not just a statement reflecting the present moment. To me, it is a reflection of how in the past I didn’t know and didn’t get to learn / try to learn / want to learn, hence I don’t know now. It can also be a reflection of how in the present, I don’t know, I am not getting to learn / I am not trying to learn / don’t want to learn and hence in future, I will continue not to know. Or even both.
My dear friend, we have so much potential in us. Please don’t let this potential fade into oblivion with the IDK (“I don’t know”) reply.
Starting today, try replying with a “I don’t know YET … but I can learn, I can try and I want to know!”
Can you do it?
I thought that when asking for help, either you get it or you don’t. If the response is “I don’t know”, could it be a neutral one, a way of not rejecting your request yet unable to render?
Of course, far too often the phrase “I don’t know” is a quick way out of a sticky situation – a request that cannot be rendered or a question that cannot be answered. To the latter, I am actually quite perplexed by ‘silence’ as an answer. I much prefer that if a question cannot be answered or there is no answer or if one doesn’t know the answer, then saying “I don’t know” is better than keeping silent. Alternatively, the classic modern response would be “no comment” if there is nothing to say or worth saying. [hint: here in this blog when there is no reply or posting, you see ‘no comment’.