You Know More Than You Know

It’s written in the Talmud that before we’re born, when we’re still in utero, an angel visits us and teaches us everything that we need to know. Everything that’s important for us to know comes into our minds before we are born.

Then, just before our birth, the angel taps us just below the nose (on the philtrum, for the anatomically inclined). That tap makes us forget all the important stuff that the angel just taught us. So we enter the world with no memory of it—or perhaps just a faint trace, so that if later in life we do encounter the teachings we learned in the womb, we stand a better chance of recognizing their importance.

As a former secondary school teacher, I am very familiar with how easily people forget important lessons, especially just before a test. So, before tests, we recommend review sessions. Students don’t need to be taught the material; it just needs to be jogged.

They just need to be reminded. They just need to remember. It’s the same with us in life.

What do you know that needs remembering?

How does it affect your interaction with others when you remember that they already know everything that’s important for them to know?