“The greatest achievement of medieval philosophers was, not systematic theology, but the discovery that the more we know, the more we are aware of what we don’t know.”
—Bernard Lonergan
He stated that there are three types of knowledge: Things we know that we know. Things we know that we don’t know. Things we don’t know that we don’t know.
This November, we have a diverse choice for the individual whom will become the most powerful and important person in country and the world. Knowledge, its awareness and its understanding are mandatory to leadership, no matter the discipline or endeavor. These three levels, its intrarelationships are engulfed in complexity. What is knowable now or in future instants of time is always in a state of constant, complex flux, especially with the rapid availability of information and the fog of “too much data” that is entwined within it.
This great nation has been blessed with individuals who understood the above. From Lincoln to FDR, Edison to R.J. Oppenheimer, Eleanor Roosevelt to Martin Luther King Jr., Marshall to Eisenhower, men and women from many fields and enterprises knew what can be accomplished now and what needs to be put off momentarily until acceptable information is available. Unfortunately, all nations and cultures have experienced those whose pride, ego or ignorance have led to deaths of innocents and fallen societies.
On Nov. 8, we must decide not only on policy and ideology, but also how their egos and pride will affect their ideological goals, this country’s complex configuration, and their understanding of the multifaceted, national, international effects of every possible option/decision. One’s vote based on political beliefs is fine, but can that candidate rule beyond the “self’s understanding of knowledge” (ego) and be capable of managing, ruling our nation?
Ideology has its limits. Ability and experience will also determine success. One mustn’t believe he knows “more than the generals” and “has a great brain.” With the above types of knowledge, combined with experience, understanding, judgment, and technological growth, our leader will be governing a diverse culture, history and people, intertwined in a complex world.
