Knowns and Unknowns
“Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns—the ones we don't know we don't know. And if one looks throughout the history of our country and other free countries, it is the latter category that tends to be the difficult ones.” Donald Rumsfeld attracted much criticism and even ridicule when he made these remarks in 2002. I was 11 at the time, and they made perfect sense to me. I wonder if that’s because children are more comfortable than adults with the notion that they are still learning and have much yet to discover? More recently, the tide has shifted somewhat and people have come to recognise Rumsfeld’s logic as a series of truism applicable in many day-to-day scenarios. Whilst it is certainly true that learners have much to,