ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

De Docta Ignorantia

De docta ignorantia is a fancy Latin phrase that means "learned ignorance." It is a concept that was first introduced by a man named Nicholas of Cusa, who lived a loooong time ago in the 15th century.

Basically, this idea is all about acknowledging that there are some things that we just don't know, and that's okay! Even the smartest people in the world don't know everything, and that's actually kind of cool.

Nicholas of Cusa believed that the more we learn, the more we realize how much we don't know. It's sort of like climbing a really big mountain - the higher you get, the more you can see, but the more you also realize just how much more mountain there is left to climb.

So, de docta ignorantia is all about acknowledging that there's always more to learn, and that being ignorant (not knowing everything) is actually a good thing. It means that we can continue to explore and discover new things, and that's pretty awesome!