School teaches you that ignorance is shameful, rather than being a person’s default AND ENTIRELY FIXABLE state. Sucks the fun outta learning, if you let it.
I may have posted something to this effect before, but it bears repeating if so: This is a marvelous way of looking at the world, and may be one of the best lessons Randall Munroe has ever taught us. It certainly prompted a change in my own behavior. “You’re one of today’s lucky 10,000″ leads to a lot more fun in life than “What do you mean you don’t know about _____?”
Common sense is something you learned so long ago that you forgot learning it, and it’s extremely regional.
Also admitting you don’t know stuff rather than pretending like we’re always pressured to is really characterful and shows independence. 🙂