I don't know: In Praise of Admitting Ignorance (Except When You Shouldn’t) Hardcover – September 12, 2013

Don't let the size of this book fool you. From first to last, each page provocatively engages the reader on the question of what it means to know or not know something. Using helpful anecdotes from her own experience as well as critical studies about the topic, Cohen writes a brilliant treatise that should be required reading for college freshmen.

Not that far into it yet, but kind of expected it to be different. May like it better once I get into more.

This is a great tome that anyone should read. It exemplifies the dangers inherent in never admitting that you don't know, as well as the great things that can come if you do admit to it.

I'm a fan of the topic of ignorance and the value of "I don't know," so I was interested in this very short book. I found the writing to be a bit stilted in parts, but I'm willing to ignore that in pursuit of the author's analysis of the topic.About halfway through I noticed that every example of systemic ignorance was on the part of some person (or group of people) with a conservative viewpoint. Down the stretch it turned into a stereotypical liberal rant (climate change, gay marriage, etc.) in which the ignorant people are the conservatives and the ability to reach compromise lies in them losing their ignorance and knowing what the liberals already know. I guess the presumption is that anyone who has really done their homework would agree with the author's political perspective. (The reader may well ask during this stretch what happened to the humble application of "I don't know" to oneself, rather than to one's ideological opponents.) The message seems to be that ultimate political compromise consists of convincing conservatives that they're wrong. This is the point where you realize that the author, despite her attempt to objectively study a topic like ignorance, now flagrantly displays her own lack of self-awareness and her meta-level ignorance. When talking about doctors, she was quick to point out how complex the human body is and how doctors don't know everything, but then when the topic is climate change, the science is settled and "deniers" are the problem. Rather than asking what climate scientists don't know (yes, they don't know many things) or what she doesn't know about climate change (many things), the only perspective considered is what conservatives and "deniers" (a horrifically insulting term, by the way) don't know. In the end, such liberal pontificating in the name of an objective study of ignorance is just so hypocritical as to render the book a relative waste of the reader's time.

Everything she writes is a joy to read - fiction and non-fiction. I have reada everything she has written and she never fails to deliver.

Quick delivery and great quality book!

One thing that I do know for sure is that I absolutely loved _I Don't Know_.As we all know, admitting when we don't know something can be a challenge. This book provides a fascinating exploration of the two kinds of fears underlying this not-knowing:"Fear of estrangement and fear of stepping into the abyss--for as much as we might worry that saying `I don't know' could cost us the human company we desire, evict us from our place around the hearth, there's an even more primal fear associated with not knowing: that our inability to comprehend the universe might threaten our very survival. Our efforts to compensate for both social and psychic fears manifest in some pretty interesting ways." (p.5)The irony is that when we can admit that we do not know, we actually can become closer to others and more at peace with ourselves--and ultimately with the un-know-able world: "Consider the irony. We swallow the words `I don't know' for fear of rupture: The admission might sever us from those we love or esteem. But the passive lie--the pretense of knowing--causes shame: an internal rupture, a rupture of self. And the bond we think we've managed to sustain with others is not a real bond; it's based on falsity...Now consider the alternative. We allow the words `I don't know' to fly from our mouths, perhaps as a confession of ignorance, perhaps as a voicing of uncertainty. Either way, the result is relinquishing of control. We declare ourselves open to receiving information, ideas, and perspectives from beyond borders of self. And in so doing, our connection to others and to the world is not ruptured. On the contrary. In the honest flow of giving and receiving, we are closer than ever...So much becomes possible when we honor doubt." (p. 97)(Who knew?)Beautifully written, incredibly illuminating, and powerfully moving, _I Don't Know_ is certainly a book well-worth getting to know.

This tiny book is brief but thought-provoking as the author examines the reasons why our culture frowns on admissions of ignorance. Cohen makes the topic engaging with relatable examples from her own and friends' lives as well as referring to more scientific work, but in an interesting way. This book will have you nodding in agreement, feeling shamefaced at times and wondering how much different our world could be if we were more comfortable admitting we don't know it all.

Bought as a joke, as my husband very often, to annoy me, replies to a question, "I don't know". Not a book, I think, that a sensible person needs to read… American, would-be self-help…