The Expiry Date on Knowing

From the political debate, to scientific research and beyond, certainty is the enemy of learning

We like to feel certain. Certainty feels safe, solid, and reassuring. But certainty can also be a trap. One of the biggest barriers to learning isn’t ignorance, it’s the belief that we already know the answer.

Think about it. When was the last time you caught yourself thinking, "I already know this" ?Maybe it was in a meeting, listening to a colleague’s idea. Or in a training session. Or while reading something new in your field. The voice of knowing shuts the door, "Nothing to see here. Move along".

And here’s the problem: what you knew might not be true anymore.

The Illusion of Knowing

Psychologist Daniel Kahneman called it “what you see is all there is” (WYSIATI). Our brains love coherence more than accuracy. Once we’ve locked onto an answer, we stop searching for alternatives.

This is why surgeons sometimes keep doing procedures the way they learned them 20 years ago, even when newer, safer techniques exist. It’s why sales managers recycle the same playbook, even when the market has shifted. And it’s why individuals often get stuck in old patterns that no longer serve them.

The Expiry Date on Knowledge

Ask yourself:

• Do I really know the answer, or do I just believe it?

• What’s my proof source?

• When did I first learn this answer?

• What was the environment I learned it in?

• Is that environment still the same today?

BTW The above 5 bullet points are a repeat of the LinkedIn post. If you skipped them, it was likely because you already know what it said...

Knowledge ages. What worked five years ago may not work today. The cold email strategy that crushed it in 2012? Dead in 2025. The leadership advice your first boss swore by? Outdated in a post-pandemic, hybrid, AI-driven world.

Knowledge has an expiry date.

Beginner’s Mind

Zen teacher Shunryu Suzuki wrote: “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s there are few.”

Certainty narrows our field of vision. Curiosity widens it.

This doesn’t mean expertise isn’t valuable, it is. But expertise without curiosity calcifies into dogma. The healthiest experts are the ones who hold their knowledge lightly, always ready to update their maps when the territory shifts.

How to Keep Learning Alive

1. Practice proof-checking. Whenever you think you know, ask: What’s my evidence? When did I last check it?

2. Treat knowledge like milk, not marble. It’s perishable. Reassess regularly.

3. Pause before declaring certainty. That pause creates space for humility and curiosity; the two biggest allies of learning.

4. Invite challenge. Ask others: What might I be missing? What do you see that I don’t?

Flourishing Through Not-Knowing

The irony is that letting go of certainty isn’t weakness, it’s strength. It creates room for surprise, serendipity, and insight.

In coaching, in leadership, in life, the moment we think we know is the moment we stop growing. So the next time certainty shows up, pause. Ask yourself: Do I really know? Or do I just believe?

That question might just reopen the door to possibility.

Want to go deeper?

• Read Carol Dweck’s Mindset for a deep dive into growth versus fixed thinking.

• Explore Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow for insight into how our brains cling to easy answers.

• Revisit Shunryu Suzuki’s Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind to cultivate curiosity.

  
  

Because flourishing doesn’t come from clinging to old answers. It comes from asking better questions.