Unknown Knowns | Teen Ink

Unknown Knowns

November 29, 2022
By jonathanhernan3z GOLD, Southborough, Massachusetts
jonathanhernan3z GOLD, Southborough, Massachusetts
15 articles 10 photos 1 comment

Favorite Quote:
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.


In the scope of information in our world, there are four capacities in which information exists.

 

Firstly, there are Known Knowns.

These are things people know happened.

These aren’t things people think happened or will happen.

People know they happened.

Known Knowns are simply facts.

They are indisputable.

 

Then, there are Known Unknowns.

These are things people know they cannot know.

These are the hypothetical scenarios that play through our minds.

These are the things that people think could happen.

Known Unknowns are uncertain, and that scares people.

Not knowing scares people.

 

Next, there are Unknown Unknowns.

These are the things that no one thinks of.

They can’t think of the Unknown Unknowns.

To think of them would bring their idea into creation,

Making them Known Unknowns or Known Knowns.

They are impossible to know.

 

Finally, there are the Unknown Knowns.

These are the things that people know but do not understand.

They make people uncomfortable because they don’t understand.

These are unspoken yet well-known.

They are things people know but do not acknowledge.

Recognizing them is uncomfortable.

 

Unknown Knowns are special.

They are a forgotten history.

They are the names of forgotten brothers and sisters.

They are the systems of oppression in our institutions.

Recognizing Unknown Knowns is uncomfortable.

Yet, people need to recognize them.

 

In the uncomfortable, people grow.

In the uncomfortable, people learn.

In the uncomfortable, people heal.



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This article has 1 comment.


on Dec. 7 2022 at 11:21 am
RipleyFallz GOLD, Moscow, Pennsylvania
10 articles 1 photo 8 comments

Favorite Quote:
The villian will always be the villian if the hero tells the story.

Love this, the poem is amazing.