I came from a country where “not knowing” is frowned upon but you’re kind-of worshipped if you’ve known something that others don’t–same concept applies to tenured employees and “just because” politicians. As I become more aware and less pretentious (lol), I find the culture ridiculous, it builds a false facade of strength on a weak foundation. How can you possibly know everything or worse pretend to know a plethora of topic without any help? I strive to learn everyday, but learning also entails asking questions. You grow by asking them too, it’s not weakness, it is actually a strength.
Coming from the culture that I was raised, asking someone about a topic I don’t know is quite a challenging task. One great illustration of this is if you ask other races about their Filipino co-workers, they would say “Oh! he/she is a hard worker, I love her”, it’s because we Filipinos don’t ask for help, we do everything on our own. We say we don’t like to be tagged as “lazy” but what it really is is we feel dumb or weak when we admit that we actually need help. We overly pretend we can do all the task in front of us with little to no help. It is mixed bag of ego and cultural problem that is rooted within us that’s why it’s so difficult to unlearn.
On the topic of asking questions, I had an encounter with a guy over the phone where I asked about wire transfers and certified checks, I know these transactions exists but I just don’t know what’s the difference between regular transactions. Not only did the guy share the differences of the transactions, he also explained how I can get around with the fees involved if I used one type of account over the other. That’s what asking questions get you! There are forces in this world that will help us figure out something by asking–we just need to utter them.
It’s refreshing to be aware that you won’t be mocked to ask questions, people who know certain topics more than you do would openly share what their experiences are, it’s highly unlikely that they won’t. So yes, it’s okay to ask, and stop pretending that you know everything because you obviously don’t–and won’t if you keep your questions to yourself.