I don’t know.

Three words - so easy to say - but so hard for so many to spit out.

If the absolute bat-guano insanity of 2020 has taught us anything, it should be that we – you, me, experts, pundits, politicians – don’t know anywhere near as much as we’ve fooled ourselves and each other into believing.

Yet the more this is proven to us, it seems the more we dig in and insist we are absolutely right.

I don’t absolve myself of this sin. I have spilled plenty of virtual ink the past eight months positing theories on the Coronavirus pandemic, the relative wisdom or lack thereof of playing college sports, who deserves blame for this or that, here in the Hawkeye Lounge and on other social media platforms.

I have, however, recently tried to dial back the certainty. Consider this a polite plea for others to do the same. The need to do so struck me around the time of the Big 10 releasing a football schedule that existed as reality for less than a week before university presidents pulled the plug (again, temporarily?) on the season.

I’d already been leaning toward embracing my ignorance, and this solidified it. What use in 2020 are predictions and proclamations? Chances are, a day or two after making them, they are going to look ridiculous. Yet weirdly, many seem to be taking the opposite approach – even doubling and tripling down when their version of presumed reality appears to be nothing more than a figment of imagination.

Here is a non-comprehensive, bulleted list of things I just don’t know in 2020:

· How deadly and dangerous Covid-19 actually is. Oh, you will get lots of folks adamant that it is massively overstated and that mitigation efforts are pointless. And then someone else will chime in that deaths are massively undercounted and that even thinking about going to dinner with friends at a restaurant is the height of irresponsibility and selfishness. But I don’t know.

· What was behind the Big 10’s decision to announce a season schedule and then almost immediately walk it back. Some will tell you they know for a fact it was all political and the Big 10 presidents are pointy headed academics that hate sports. Others will say they are paragons of integrity and intelligence and did it to keep their communities safe. Me? I don’t know.

· Whether this herky-jerky, ad-hoc college football season will be pulled off with success. Many will tell you it is obviously going to work perfectly and that the Big 10 will be exposed as cowardly and feckless for being so cautious. Others insist it is a disaster-in-the making and mass quarantines will force more and more game cancellations until eventually the entire season has to be abandoned. I suppose one of these scenarios could happen, but I sure don’t know which one is more likely at this point.

And that’s just the pandemic-related stuff I don’t know! Going back to the crisis that pre-dated Covid – Iowa’s ongoing issues with race-relations – that, too, sparked a lot of “I know what’s really going on and let me tell you why you’re wrong” rhetoric. It is frustrating to me that so many can see what is clearly a complex, sensitive and longstanding issue in such – pun intended – black and white terms.

I have been and continue to be a big believer in strongly stating opinions and taking a stand for what you believe is right. But I think it can – and should – be done while still acknowledging the likelihood that the person sharing those opinions does not have the market cornered on knowledge. I also feel like that nuanced approach is losing ground in an increasingly bombastic, polarized “marketplace of ideas.”

As we lurch forward into the unknown – around health and safety, football, race relations and other thorny issues – I believe it would behoove us all, self-included, to continue saying those three little words: I don’t know.

This doesn’t mean throwing away passion, discarding your opinions or sharing information and theories. But it does mean leaving the door open to perhaps be proven *gasp* wrong from time-to-time.

It’s a practice we can all improve.

Follow me on Twitter @ToryBrecht and @12Saaturdays