The old teachers thought that not to know is to step into life without repeating yourself. It is to forget the prejudices and comparisons that say, “I’m better than you, I’m worse than you, I’m good at this, I’m bad at that.” If you practice “don’t know” mind for long enough, perhaps you can learn how to be good at anything.

Yet in a turbulent world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.

Yet in a turbulent world, there’s another set of cognitive skills that might matter more: the ability to rethink and unlearn.

Resisting the impulse to simplify is a step toward becoming more argument literate.