I Don’t Know

The words “I Don’t Know” sound like an abomination in the Ghanaian culture when used by a child as an answer to an adult.

Since childhood, I have never been allowed to use the statement, “I Don’t Know” when having a conversation with adults. I always had to think of an alternative answer or spill out wrong information.

But what if I genuinely don’t know, should I lie?

With the world being a very opinionated place, I Don’t Know is a very unpleasant answer to a question. Everyone always has something to say, an opinion to share, even when their views show clearly that indeed they don’t know. They could have saved themselves the disgrace if they had just said “I Don’t Know”.

But don’t get me wrong, sometimes, I Don’t Know can be a wrong answer. Like during the NSMQ (EnEsEmQue). Congrats to Prempeh by the way. At least Accra will be quiet and less “blue” .

There is one “I Don’t Know” answer that I like so much because it was the best answer to give at that time. (Please allow me to tell this story)

We were a few weeks away from starting our WASSCE and my Physics teacher was teaching my class Atomic Physics on a Monday or Tuesday (Ahh, I can’t remember the day, it’s been two years already) morning. Or afternoon? The point is, he was teaching us Atomic Physics or so? One student asked him a question. I can’t remember the question, but his answer angered, annoyed (every extreme word you can think of) me. His answer was, “Me kraa, I Don’t Know Oh”. Buei!! Physics teacher, you don’t know? It’s like barely a month to WASSCE and you don’t know? The whole class was thrown into turmoil. Everyone shouting for the sake of their grades. Amidst all the shouts, I realised that my passing the WASSCE was really in my own hands, and God’s too. I got angry with his reply at first, but I realized he did a good thing. He could have pretended he knew and taught us the wrong thing and very well, help us fail the WASSCE. Instead, he told us he didn’t know. He went back to research and came to teach us the correct thing. Now that’s a true teacher. He made me enjoy Physics a lot, like a lot.

The point I want you to see is his IDK (I Don’t Know) answer did two things. 1. It made me realise that my excellence was dependent on me, and God. 2. It’s okay to say IDK, you can find out later.

Everyone wants a definite plan, answer, path. We don’t want to tell others we don’t know, even though there are a lot of things we don’t know.

For instance, I ask you how the iPhone 15 will look like. Since we live in an opinionated world, you would most likely begin to give me your opinions of the design, even though you aren’t on the Apple design team. You see? You don’t have the information, but you still want to tell me something, since you deem “IDK” a demeaning answer. But truly, you don’t know.
It’s the same with life. People don’t know what careers they want to pursue. They don’t even know what they want to study in university or where they want to work, but they can’t say IDK when they are asked. As humans, we feel the need to have everything figured out.

Life is like a math question. EMATH to be precise. One of them questions with many variables. I can’t remember one right now (all I do now is dv/dt, lol). We all have our questions, but we want to have all our variables and formulas sorted out before we start solving the question. Do you remember those questions where you use an answer from number 1 to answer number 2? Yes, sometimes that’s how it is. You had to finish number 1 by saying IDK to the answer of number 2, get to number 2 and realize you can use the answer from number 1 or the examiner comes in to provide more information concerning the question (Dr Ampofo🤣)

A lot of people don’t know what they want to do. When you are still in school, it’s easier. At least your parents are there to take some of the decisions for you. When you enter the real world, alone, that’s where the IDK becomes more. (IDK nu b3 y3 more).

Saying IDK doesn’t mean you are dumb or something. It just means you don’t have the answer at that moment.

I, for one, have had a lot of IDK moments. I’m even sitting in a couple of them right now. I didn’t know if I would go to college here or elsewhere. I didn’t know what I wanted to major in. I still don’t know what I want to specialize in. I don’t know where I would like to work. I don’t know a lot of things. A lot. Like right now, I don’t know when to go get a haircut or which barber to go to (Kidding, I just want to do Afro!) .

In all of these IDKs, the answers show up at the time we need them, not want them. Need them. Things come together as we go. As we go too, more IDKs develop. It’s like a converging-diverging path sort of. It’s annoying sometimes.

Having patience during IDKs is an extreme sport but quite beneficial because, without patience, you’ll say you know something you don’t fully know of yet.

Things come together as we go. As we go too, more IDKs develop. It’s like a converging-diverging path sort of. It’s annoying sometimes.

In all the IDKs, there is One who knows enough to be relied on.

“So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.”

‭‭Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭AMPC‬‬

So the next time you don’t know something, don’t be shy or afraid to say, “ I Don’t Know”