do you know …

“do you know … …” or “you do not know …” or “你(知)不知道 … …?”

these are epistemological questions. but such philosophical question often appears in our day-to-day encounter. if i/we use the above question in attempt to tell someone that s/he is in the wrong, and the problem and/or consequence that leads on from there, i/we should first ask ourselves:

“did i/we do anything to enable this person to know (what i assumed s/he should know)? 我们做了什么让他知道了呢?”

often, what we know is limited by the access to (privileged) information. if i have not maintained high level of transparency, nor have frequent open conversations, i cannot expect others to know (what i assumed s/he should know).

in short, the lessons here are:

1. conversation/dialogues (cf. 1-way monologue) are important to attain transparency
2. don’t ask the 1st question if i have not done the 2nd.

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