How Ignorance is a Hidden Blessing When it Comes to Self-Improvement

I’m about to break the number one rule of the multi-million-dollar self-help industry. I’m going to praise ignorance and lack of knowledge as a way to improve your life. Not only will I praise it, but I’ll also demonstrate how it’s been instrumental in some of the greatest achievements of mankind.

’m sure you’ve never thought of ignorance as beneficial. We generally try our best to educate ourselves emotionally and educationally throughout our lives. The more you know, the better you are. If you’re reading this right now, you’re likely attempting to do just that — enlighten yourself.

However, we may be shooting ourselves in the foot. Our effort to illuminate all the darkness around us may be inadvertently lowering our potential. As counter-intuitive as it sounds, it makes sense when you think about it.

Economist Albert Otto Hirschman calls this concept the Hiding Hand Principle. People many times take on difficult challenges mainly out of ignorance, not knowing how hard they actually are. The struggle forces one to become creative, and generally better along the way.

But this is more than just a concept; one of the greatest accomplishments mankind ever achieved was based out of total ignorance — in a way.