We live in the age of information. We can access global news 24 hours a day, every day. We can watch the news on TV, hear it on the radio when we commute to school or work and we can access it whenever we have a spare moment on our phones and computers. You can get notifications on your phone, as a matter of fact, from specific news outlets when something notable happens. There is so much out there to know and so many ways that we can get that information.

However, we are only human. Just because we can have access to all of this information doesn’t mean that we automatically know everything that is going on. It doesn't mean we have every fact on all of the developing stories. That’s alright. That means that you’re paying attention to your other obligations -- work, school and family -- and just plain old taking care of yourself.

There are always going to be people that know things that you don’t. You’ll always run into someone who is educated on an event, a policy or a up-and-coming news story that you know nothing about. There isn’t anything wrong with that. But do yourself and everyone else a favor and own up to the fact that you don’t know. There is a lot of power to be had in admitting that you don’t have enough information on a topic to have an informed opinion on it. In this day and age, everyone is expected to know everything because of the plethora of information available to us, but it would be ridiculous to think that we have the time to sit back and truly absorb and think about it all without rejecting our basic life obligations.

So the next time someone asks you about the latest political endeavor--you know, the one that you saw a couple headlines about as you scrolled through Facebook but never took the time to look further into, ask them what it’s all about. There’s no shame in asking for more information on something you haven’t looked into yet. Don’t blow smoke because you are afraid to admit you aren’t informed on that particular topic. There are going to be times in the future when you’re the one with the information that your friends want but don’t have just yet.

My friends know not to ask me about sports. With all the other things in my life, keeping up with sports hasn’t ever made the top of the priority list. I know that, and they know that, so they don’t ask me if I caught the game last night because they already know I didn’t. Instead, they tell me the results and any noteworthy brawls that might’ve broken out. But if they need to know the latest news on any films coming out? They know I’m the girl to go to. I can give them a run-down of the new movies in the last two weeks and the next month to come because that just so happens to be the kind of thing my mind leans towards. Same goes for new music. I stay fairly up to date on music releases and upcoming tours, but I can guarantee you I have not kept up with Donald Trump’s Twitter; I get whatever information is relevant to me from my friends. I’ll be the first to admit I don’t stay perfectly up-to-date on everything involving the political landscape and there’s nothing inherently wrong with that-- as long as I don’t go around spreading incomplete or incorrect information because I’m trying to make it seem like I’ve got more facts up my sleeve than I really do.

Even in today’s age of information, there will still be a lot that you don’t know. That is a scenario that 100 percent of people in the world are going to be in at one point or another. The urge that we all have is to try and fake our way through whatever interactions we can so we don’t have to admit we’re lacking information. My advice? Don’t. Don’t do that. The only way you’re going to get new information is to admit that you don’t already have it. Admitting there’s not enough in your intellectual arsenal to have a complete and informed stance on one thing or another is a respectable move and one of the only ways to move in the direction of actually gathering information on any given topic. So take a deep breath and just let people know that you don’t know, but you’d love to find out more if they’re willing to talk with you about it. Educate yourself and help others educate you.