In Doubt We Trust

Interesting programme from Radio 4. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00z2sl8
Considers how important some level of doubt or unknowing is in all areas of life but that in modern life how it is becoming less acceptable to have doubts.
The presenter tells a story about how Socrates told about a friend who went to see the Oracle and asked who was the wisest person in all of Athens. The Oracle told him that this was Socrates himself. Socrates was surprised when he heard this as all he knew is that the more that he discovered and found out, the more he realised he didn't know. He then realised that what the Oracle was saying is that to be wise is a realisation that you will never know everything. As described on philosophy pages, "Socrates concluded that he had a kind of wisdom that the other philosphers lacked: namely an open awareness of his own ignorance".
This made me thought aboutthe discussion I had with my MA tutor before I handed in my first assessed piece of work. I was telling him that as I had studied the subject, I had found that I was less and less sure of why I had decided to study it, what I was trying to write about or find out. My tutor laughted at this and told me to bascially get used to that feeling and that many PhD students go through a similar stage when writing their Thesis when they hardly know why they started writing it!
As a teacher, the challenge is to develop this understanding of wisdom within a system which values absolutes in knowledge.