It's a great point, but I don't buy the connection to actual cheating. There's dishonestly pretending to know something that you don't, which is what she's addressing. That's done to save embarrassment. But she connects that dishonesty to cheating, which is done to avoid failure.
Yes, we can categorize embarrassment as a kind of failure, but I think they are clearly separable in their effect on us. As she demonstrated, if you just say "I don't know" in conversation, you don't actually look stupid. But if you fail to write an essay, your grade will suffer.
But, back to her original point, I have noticed that the smartest people and best researchers I know are not afraid to say "I don't know" when asked a question. I've warned people who give interview talks here that their audience will be filled with very smart people who aren't scared of looking stupid. Which implies that they'll ask questions without fear of asking a "too obvious" question, which in turns implies they are more likely to ask fundamental, difficult to answer questions.
>But, back to her original point, I have noticed that the smartest people and best researchers I know are not afraid to say "I don't know" when asked a question.
So true.
That is exactly what really hammered it home for me years ago.
I found myself working with a particularly capable and impressive guy who didn't have the slightest hesitation about saying "I don't know." when asked a question or "What's that?" when listening.
I've had some frustrating encounters with people who seem to live by hard and fast rules about what negative things "I don't know" supposedly demonstrates about a person [1], but overall it has been incredibly liberating. It's amazing how fast you can come to know someone and learn from them when you both come in open and unguarded.
1: A few of the more memorable responses I've seen to "I don't know".
* "Never, ever say that again. You should always try to relate the situation to something you do know. Saying I don't know just means you're lazy."
* "You were just feigning ignorance about that to get me to try to explain it so you could attack my explanation!"
> Never, ever say that again. You should always try to relate the situation to something you do know.
This is the best possible way to get thoroughly idiotic ideas in your head. If you ever want to completely and utterly misunderstand a subject, I could not think of any better way to do that than to follow this advice.
> You were just feigning ignorance about that to get me to try to explain it so you could attack my explanation!
And this is a psychotic level of insecurity manifesting itself as delusions of persecution.
I agree with you here. I don't buy a connection between the inability to say I don't know and cheating. If anything I'd think it were an inverse relationship, based on my own humble experience. I used to be too insecure to say I don't know and would often ramble to cover my deep embarrassment of not knowing. That being said the same acute sensitivity to embarrassment also ensured I never cheated on anything in my life - the terror of the embarrassment of being caught cheating far outweighed any potential gains.
I think it needs to be repeated that pretending to know something isn't the same as cheating on a test.
People cheat on tests because it increases the final score. That score contributes to the final grade. That grade determines ones rank at graduation time. Attaining the degree has numerous benefits.
When I was younger, I was the kind of person who would not admit to not knowing. I faked it. I wanted to be cool.
But I never cheated. I didn't care enough about the scores, grades, or even doing well. I figured I'd get the grade I got. I didn't care about the system.
Now, older and a little wiser, I don't fake knowing to be cool, and don't fake knowing to make it in the system. I just don't give a fuck.
I've seen plenty of business people try to hand-wave away or cover up their ignorance with bullshit instead of saying they don't know something. Is that cheating, in a business setting? I think it might be a stretch that not saying "I don't know" leads to cheating directly as she suggests but the urge to cover up ignorance could lead to both.
Yes, we can categorize embarrassment as a kind of failure, but I think they are clearly separable in their effect on us. As she demonstrated, if you just say "I don't know" in conversation, you don't actually look stupid. But if you fail to write an essay, your grade will suffer.
But, back to her original point, I have noticed that the smartest people and best researchers I know are not afraid to say "I don't know" when asked a question. I've warned people who give interview talks here that their audience will be filled with very smart people who aren't scared of looking stupid. Which implies that they'll ask questions without fear of asking a "too obvious" question, which in turns implies they are more likely to ask fundamental, difficult to answer questions.