One of my favorite english adages is: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread” - which is often interpreted as a warning against ignorance and overconfidence, much like the Dunning–Kruger effect, which describes how people with little knowledge or skill often overestimate their own abilities. Yet there is another possible reading. Those who have been taught where the limits lie may never question them, while those who are unaware of the accepted boundaries sometimes dare to explore beyond them. In that sense, the saying comes close to the famous quote often attributed to Mark Twain: “They didn’t know it was impossible, so they did it.” Not every reckless act leads to discovery, but many genuine breakthroughs have come from people who challenged assumptions simply because they did not know they were supposed to be impossible.
