The Lie of Knowing | #78

By Armaan Athwal

Today's Overview:

• The first trap of learning is mistaking insight for action

• Quote of the day

There’s this weird lie that sneaks into your mind once you start reading, studying, chasing ideas.

The lie is:
"If I just know what’s right, I’ll do what’s right."

I believed it for a long time. I thought the problem was that I didn’t know enough.

If I just read the right book.
If I just heard the right advice.
If I just listened a little better.

But eventually you notice something unsettling:

You already know so much.

You know how to live a decent life.
You know what’s healthy for you and what isn’t.
You know what choices lead to regret.

And yet knowing doesn’t stop you from making the wrong moves anyway.

At first, that’s frustrating. It makes you feel broken, like you’re missing some internal wiring.

But the more you dig, the more you realize that knowledge isn’t designed to move you. Knowledge is the map, not the walking.

Maps are important. You need to know where you're going. But standing over a map, tracing your finger across it, doesn’t get you anywhere.

You still have to move. You still have to take steps when you're tired, when you’re unsure, when it’s raining, when the ground feels uneven under your feet.

Even Epictetus, the stoic who taught freedom of the mind while living as a slave, said the point of philosophy wasn't to simply talk about it, but to embody it.

There’s no perfect amount of knowing that makes the walking easy.

There’s just you, facing the next step.

Quote of the Day

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” - Marcus Aurelius