Conscious and Knowledge

   "There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
     There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we know know we don't know.
     But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know, we don't know. ”  - Donald Rumsfeld

 Unconscious Ignorance

These four quadrants explained.  This  knowledge and consciousness is from an individual's perspective .  

The knowledge beyond self is described in Johari Window .

Conscious knowldge	What all knowledge we have
Conscious Ignorance	What all things we do not know .
Unconscious Knowledge	Gut feelings ,  Our habits , automatic responses ,
Unconscious Ignorance	We can not even enumerate what we do not know.

 

  

   The Conscious Competence Ladder

Level 4 – Unconscious Competence (You Don't Know that You Know – It Just Seems Easy!)	At this level your new skills become habits, and you perform the task without conscious effort and with automatic ease. This is the peak of your confidence and ability.
Level 3 – Conscious Competence (You Know that You Know)	At this level you acquire the new skills and knowledge. You put your learning into practice and you gain confidence in carrying out the tasks or jobs involved. You are aware of your new skills and work on refining them.You are still concentrating on the performance of these activities, but as you get ever-more practice and experience, these become increasingly automatic.
Level 2 – Conscious Incompetence(You Know that You Don't Know)	At this level you find that there are skills you need to learn, and you may be shocked to discover that there are others who are much more competent than you. As you realize that your ability is limited, your confidence drops. You go through an uncomfortable period as you learn these new skills when others are much more competent and successful than you are.
Level 1 – Unconscious Incompetence(You Don't Know that You Don't Know)	At this level you are blissfully ignorant: You have a complete lack of knowledge and skills in the subject in question. On top of this, you are unaware of this lack of skill, and your confidence may therefore far exceed your abilities.

 











http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2011/07/we-dont-know-what-we-dont-know.html

The Four Classes of Ignorance

The ignorance changes states as one gets enlightened. There are at least four varieties of ignorance, two of which are beneficial; one of these actually supersedes knowledge in the enlightenment that it confers upon those who attain it. Moreover, the view that knowledge proceeds from, and replaces ignorance is not necessarily correct. The ideal progression is one in which ignorance displaces knowledge.

1) Passive ignorance: It is the inevitable and automatic outcome of doing nothing with one's mind.

2)Active ignorance : Active ignorance is commonly mistaken for knowledge, so that although we imagine that we go to school in order to fill our heads with wisdom, we are really there to exchange one type of ignorance for another.

3)Essential ignorance : Essential ignorance is achieved when a person becomes truthfully and sincerely cognizant that he lacks understanding. In contrast to passive ignorance, essential ignorance represents a relatively advanced state of self-comprehension. Essential ignorance is not a lack of awareness, but rather the awareness of a lack, and as such, it renders the mind an empty vessel prepared to receive.

4)Enlightened ignorance : Enlightened ignorance is as far as one's mind can take one in the quest for truth. Intellect, even of the highest quality, is, by nature, limited.

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//when one attains Nirvâna, which is the realization of the Buddhist life, ignorance itself becomes enlightenment and self-will the divine will. What we thought ignorance is now enlightenment; //
http://religions.booklounge.org/index.php/Buddhism/zen-for-americans-sermons-of-a-buddhist-abbot.html
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"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance."- Confucius
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Socratic Ignorance : I do not think I know what I do not know. Perhaps Socrates had "Essential ignorance" or "Enlightened ignorance" .
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"The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge." - Stephen Hawking
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In the book "Ignorance: How It Drives Science", neuroscientist Stuart Firestein writes that science is often like looking for a black cat in a dark room, and there may not be a cat in the room. Firestein discusses why the hit-or-miss process, the “not knowing” is the true engine of science.
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Unknown Unknown

Look at the diagram and you discover it is simple to grasp. Each of us an arena of knowledge (the upper left hand corner). For instance, I know how to lace a shoe. This is the arena of those patterns we have learned to trust because they work.
Next come the items we know that we do not know (lower left corner). There are other ways to lace a shoe. This I know. How to lace them up in that manner I do not.
Third, are the items I do not know that I know (upper right hand corner). This can be tougher to grasp, mostly because I am describing something of which I am not aware. So, in this discussion of lacing shoes, we could say that I’ve forgotten that I could figure out how to lace shoes up in different ways if I simply sat down and became creative.  Of course, the minute I figure out an alternative way to lace up a shoe, it shifts over to the Known Knowns quadrant.
Finally, there are the things I do not know and I do not know that I do not know them (lower right hand corner). Are you confused? It is okay to be confused about this corner of the diagram because we are describing not only a lack of knowledge, but a lack of awareness of that lack of knowledge. Perhaps there are other ways of fastening shoes that remain to be discovered and I’m not thinking about it at all. Now that I am, however, it shifts over to the Known Unknowns because I’m conscious of them.


 Ref:http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/PBDesigning4Change.htm 

The transformative process that moves an individual from a state of unconscious ignorance to one of effortless mastery is marked by four broad stages. The points of transition between these stages are important for teachers and potential teachers to note.

1. Unconscious Ignorance: Lacking knowledge of a subject or subjects and unaware of one’s own ignorance or of the importance of that knowledge. Regarding the global nature of the environmental, political, and social crisis facing humanity, arguably half or more of the world’s people are uninformed, ill-informed, or deluded. Only a few of these are“blissfully ignorant.” Most are suffering as a consequence of that crisis, but don’t understand how or why. 

The opportunity here is to reach people through their suffering. The remedial action needed for growth is inspiration and information. The result is awakening. Writing, publishing, public speaking, and media work can contribute to raising awareness. And there is an important niche in teaching work to be filled here. For every design course there need to be many newsletters and magazines circulated, many showings of relevant films, and many short talks, booths and displays in fairs, plus radio talks and interviews, presentations to civic groups, and the like. This is the ideal arena for new teachers to enter.

2. Conscious Ignorance: Lacking knowledge of a subject, but aware of its importance, and thus of the limits of one’s knowledge. Many people in western countries have had enough exposure through media and education to elements of the crisis that they have awakened to its importance. Though still a minority in society, this group constitutes tens and probably hundreds of millions of individuals. Most do not yet know how they can make a difference. This is an important point of intervention for permaculture. People in this condition can be reached through their awareness. Growth from this stage requires study, and in the practical arts, training. The result is an increase in capacity, or empowerment. This is the group at which the design course is aimed. The more awakened individuals we can train, the better chance we have of turning history around.

3. Conscious Knowledge: Having knowledge of a subject, along with the awareness of its importance, and deliberately working to extend that knowledge. Those in this group are agents for change. Awakened, inspired, empowered, and active, they are pioneers of a better way of life. Numbering hundreds of thousands to a few millions worldwide, their need is to contribute and to strengthen themselves. Most are engaged in various worthy social efforts. This group merits support and provides a good return on investment of resources. People in this group can best be reached through their work. There is a need to link individuals within this group to others in order to strengthen their collective efforts. Growth from this stage requires practice. The result is mastery.

4. Effortless or “Unconscious” Knowledge: Immersed in a subject and skilled in it such that exercise of that knowledge is second nature. Think of your own capacity to walk or talk. Most humans master these skills early in life. Though most adult humans have achieved mastery in some areas of work, few have mastered the knowledge and skills required for responding appropriately and effectively to the global crisis. Nevertheless, practice makes perfect, and there is no shortage of opportunities to apply sustainable design to human settlements. If the permaculture movement is understood as a form of activism, part of the effort to illuminate and transform destructive human patterns in relation to nature and society, then its chief role lies in helping individuals move from stage 2 to stage 3 in the above typology. Permaculture offers training and thereby empowerment. The design course is the chief means by which this takes place. This accords with the principle of working where it counts. The effort required to awaken, inform, and inspire vast numbers of the ignorant unconscious is more than a small group with limited resources can hope to achieve directly. But the training of large numbers of conscious individuals who want to learn is a task worthy of our best efforts.

Reference :

1.  http://givingproject.wordpress.com/2011/02/21/committing-yourself-to-agreement-a-little-more-humility-please/
2.  http://www.permacultureactivist.net/PeterBane/PBDesigning4Change.htm