Ignorant Knowledge

I'm indebted to the Elucidations Podcast of U Chicago interview with Jennifer Lockhart on Ignorant Knowledge.

Ignorant Knowledge is a Kierkegaardism, describing the person who has the words and arguments mastered for a particular skill or role, but in fact is terrible at it, and apparently unable to connect the bad outcomes to incomplete performance of the role. I myself, have been a terrible 'Ignorant Knower' of a lot of things - things about people and leadership and right and wrong, but also about skills and discipline and rationality.  The ignorant knower is in a bind as long as their correction is only available in words - as the discussion on the podcast pointed out, a manager who is terribly inconsistent, and has it pointed out to them, is likely to add 'practising what they preach' to their tissue of litanies, but having no idea how to be unselfish, make a considerate and effective plan, or monitor progress in a motivating way.

Ignorant knowledge (according to Jennifer Lockhart) is a useful problem case for philosophical understandings, like weakness of will.  It forces a confrontation with 'how do we work?'