Knowing Can Become Another Form of Not Looking
Knowing is usually an advantage. It saves time. It lets experience accumulate. It allows skill to build.
The same advantage can become a blind spot. I know what this person is like. I know why this project failed. I know what the problem is. The label closes the file.
Now looking feels unnecessary. The difficulty is not knowledge. It is the moment knowledge stops functioning as a guide and starts functioning as a substitute for observation. Fresh evidence can become invisible because the conclusion has already arrived.
A useful discipline is to keep knowledge provisional enough to meet the present. What do I know? What am I assuming because I know it? What would I notice if I did not need the old answer to remain complete? Knowing can illuminate. It can also become another form of not looking.