Practicalmadness

From 21 Rules of Thumb: How Microsoft Develops Its Software:

It is essential not to profess to know, or seem to know, or accept that someone else knows, that which is unknown. Almost without exception, the things that end up coming back to haunt you are things you pretended to understand but didn’t early on. At virtually every stage of even the most successful software projects, there are large numbers of very important things that are unknown. It is acceptable, even mandatory, to clearly articulate your ignorance, so that no one misunderstands the corporate state of unknowingness. [Bolds mine - ed.] If you do not disseminate this “lucid ignorance,” disaster will surely befall you.

Specifically the author is referring to the process of software development, but is there anything in modern life for which it would not be a good idea to articulate one’s ignorance, so that no one misunderstands the general state of unknowingness?

Obviously our government lives by this rule, and the electoral process: had certain Florida voters articulated their ignorance prior to casting their votes back in 2000, would we now not misunderstand the location of the Iraqi WMDs? It’s, like, that thing where a butterfly flaps its wings in Tokyo and a building falls over in Bahrain or something — we’re all connected in our state of unknowingness, like, and um, yeah.

Nobody knows anything. [Except me. I knows everything. - ed.]