Achievements in Ignorance: Difference between revisions
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{{examples}}
== Advertising ==
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T7Yuhfccwd8&list=PLUJZiQIClkweBFwwTKxEyS4ggBi8HJA_B&index=8 This PSA commercial from 1988]; Vince the Crash Test Dummy can drive... Until Larry reminds him he can't.
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GeKTrjGdJ2E&t=13s This trailer] for ''[[LEGO Fortnite]]'' shows Brite Bomber discovering the LEGO dimension by accident, stumbling though a portal while fleeing from monsters.
== Anime and Manga ==
* ''[[Shaman King]]'' uses this to [[Hand Wave]] why it is a bunch of kids being sent to stop the reincarnated antagonist who has spent nearly a thousand years training in hell to become more powerful and recently is on the verge of merging with God/The Great Spirit. Essentially, the adults have hit the barrier where they begin to realize there are limitations. The kids are too young/stupid to realize there are limitations yet.
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** A talking starfish that the Straw Hats meet named Pappug learned to speak human tongue because when he was a kid he believed himself to be a human. By the time he realized he was not, he had already learned to speak. Even ''Luffy'' questions how exactly that works.
** Zoro, who can and most likely will get lost under any circumstances, including running down a straight hallway with no exits. He also once got lost on the beginning of a narrow cliff. A trait shared with Ryouga from ''[[Ranma ½]]'', who can get lost trying to go from one room in a house to another room. By going outside, and not noticing this is a problem.
** The Cross Guild is an alliance of pirate captains that includes such nefarious individuals as Sir Crocodile and Dracule Mihawk, their leader being… [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain| Buggy]]? Here’s how it went down. After the mass escape from Impel Down, Buggy started a small smuggling operation, but it wasn’t doing so well, and he had a lot of debts he was struggling to pay. Realizing that joining the Cross Guild would boost his business, he offered to advertise the group for free if he was allowed to join. Crocodile and Mihawk agreed, but Buggy’s crew - who thought he was a big-shot for making a fool out of the World Government and believing Crocodile had helped him about of loyalty - designed the fliers in a way that depicted Buggy as the foremost member of the Guild, and distributed them worldwide, before Buggy could review or approve them. Naturally, the two actual leaders were angry at first, [[Pragmatic Villainy|but Mihawk realized]] that keeping Buggy [[Authority in Name Only|as a figurehead]] would cause the World Government to consider them [[Beneath Notice]], and convinced Crocodile to go along with it. So far, it seems to have worked.
* In ''[[Dragon Ball]]'', Goku trained for the 22nd Greatest Under the Heavens Martial Arts Tournament by running around the world without using the Kinto'Un (Flying Nimbus cloud) on account of advice from Master Roshi. When asked how he got to the tournament, he said he swam from Yahhoy which turned out to be on the other side of the world from the tournament.
** This also kind of defines the entire career of [[Fake Ultimate Hero| Mr. Satan/Hercule]]. Little more than a [[Badass Normal]] (compared to the rest of the cast, who have godlike powers) on his best days, he's maintained his status as a hero and celebrity mostly due to incredibly high charisma and plain old dumb luck. Still, those two traits ''are'' rather useful to have at times...
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* This is the plot of ''[[Pay It Forward]]'' as described by the mother:
{{quote|"You don't know my son, you tell him he can do something and he's going to believe you."}}
* Sach from ''[[The Bowery Boys]]'' films, despite having no knowledge of chemistry (and sadly little of any ''other'' field), seems so prone to coming up with potions and compounds that do the impossible (such as [[Super Serum]]s and fuel for a race car that includes ''seltzer water'' as an ingredient) that he comes across as some kind of [[Idiot Savant]] [[Alchemy|alchemist]].
== Literature ==
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* This is the explanation given for why younger wizards in [[Diane Duane]]'s ''[[Young Wizards]]'' series have more power than older, more experienced wizards. They need it, because they tend to do more impossible things.
* In Norton Juster's ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]'', Milo is told, in the end, that [[The Quest]] he accomplished was, in fact, impossible. This is, in fact, the [[Aesop]] of ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]'' that anything is possible, provided you don't know it's impossible.
*
** Tiffany Aching reading the dictionary cover to cover because nobody ever told her she shouldn't and Susan Sto-Helit successfully teaching seven
** Bergholt Stuttley "Bloody Stupid" Johnson
** In ''[[
** Discussed in ''[[
** [[Anthropomorphic Personification|Death]] gives this explanation for how he can move through walls and otherwise
** Susan also uses this trope when she travels back through time to ask Death a few questions about her job. The Raven uses this trope as an example of why education is actually a bad thing.
** An interesting example is Lord Rust, Ankh Morpork's foremost military leader by dint of heritage
** Hodgesaaargh finds the newly-hatched phoenix because nobody told him that nobody had ever found one.
** Cohen and his Silver Horde slaughter the Agatean ninjas in ''[[Interesting Times]]'' because nobody told them that Ninjas were invincible.
* This is played seriously in ''[[The Belgariad]]'' when Garion tries to {{spoiler|resurrect the dead colt}} and succeeds, something Belgarath (the first and most powerful human sorcerer) can't do. In this case, it's primarily used to show just how much sorcery depends on the sorcerer believing a feat is possible. In particular the adolescent Garion sees things as simpler than they actually are, which lets him do things that his learned elders think are too complex to be done. Belgarath notes at one point that this is also puts Garion at risk, as this sometimes results in Garion attempting things that more experienced sorcerers would know are too dangerous to try. This is also [[Foreshadowing]], as {{spoiler|Errand, a complete innocent, convinces the gods to bring Durnik back to life in the last book largely by not comprehending he's dead...[[Physical God|largely]].}}
** Also subverted in the fifth book, ''Enchanter's Endgame'' by Queen Islena of Cherek when ruling in her husband's stead. Following suggestions of a fellow queen-slash-[[Magnificent Bastard]], she orders a priest trying to usurp the throne to go to the front lines or be sent to the dungeons. Such an ultimatum would be completely unacceptable behavior for the monarch, except Islena isn't well known for her intellect and is assumed to be ignorant of her apparent ''faux pas''. Unable to counter the queen's order, his take-over not yet ready, and with no actual legal grounds to protest, the priest is sent to war.
*** Her husband King Anheg later admits that he could never have done this because he ''is'' expected to know better.
** Also, in ''Polgara the Sorceress'', Polgara comments on Belgarath's ability to continue at any given task unrelentingly, and supposes he may be able to "store up sleep" during his long periods of rest, something she knows/believes to be impossible. Just afterwards, she decides it might be interesting to test the capacity of a human to do what seems impossible - when one doesn't know it - by convincing [[Knight in Shining Armor|Mandorallen]] to pick himself up by the scruff of his neck.
* In ''[[
** This method was also behind the invention of the Infinite Improbability Drive. By way of explanation, the theory behind the ''Finite'' Improbability Drive was well-understood by that point, and largely consisted of ensuring that probability was twisted ''just'' right to ensure an otherwise improbable result. For example, ensuring that, at parties, every particle in the hostess' undergarments simultaneously quantum-leaped two feet to the left. The
*** And then the underclassman was lynched by the now-thoroughly-annoyed scientists.
* The Blieder Drive of Eric Frank Russell's ''The Great Explosion'' was invented in this manner.
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* In [[The Saint]] short story "The Newdick Helicopter", a [[Con Man]] sells a mark plans for a 'helicopter' (actually a gyrocopter). When the mark assembles the helicopter, he discovers it cannot take off vertically as he expected it to. Assuming he had put it together wrong, he starts tinkering with it and ends up inventing a fully functioning helicopter. (Note that this story was published in 1933, several years before the first fully functioning helicopter was built.)
* In Robert Adams' ''Castaways in Time'' series, Sebastian Foster is stranded in an [[Alternate History]] and becomes a highly regarded military leader. At one point, someone points out to the king of England why the mission Foster is currently trying to carry out is impossible. The king smiles and says, in essence, "'''You''' know that, and '''I''' know that, but if we don't tell Bass Foster that, he may well accomplish it anyway."
* The humor behind ''[[Amelia Bedelia]]'' is that the protagonist is so [[Literal-Minded]] she messes up the instructions her employers give her; usually, her baking is what convinces them to forgive her, but she even messes that up sometimes, like when she was told to make sponge cake and made a cake with real sponge in it. (They thought that one was [[Actually Pretty Funny]].) However, in one story, she is told to make tea cake, and does so by putting actual brewed tea in cake batter, and it becomes a big hit to the guests at her boss-lady's luncheon.
▲== Live Action TV ==
* Parodied in ''[[Arrested Development (TV series)|Arrested Development]]'' when {{spoiler|Rita}} walks across a pool after suggesting that Michael {{spoiler|visit her in England by walking across the ocean, "if it's not too deep". As it turns out it's one of Gob's <s> magic tricks</s> illusions.}}
* ''[[Gilligan's Island]]'': Gilligan once ''flew'' by attaching a pair of artificial wings to his arms and flapping them until the Skipper told him it was impossible.
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* On ''[[Scrubs]]'', the Todd once revived a flatlined patient...with a high-five.
{{quote|'''Dr. Cox:''' ''Great moment, there, dumbass. It starts out with a profound misunderstanding of how the human body works, and winds up with you shattering some old man's hand.''}}
* Something of an [[Epileptic Trees]] example, as this was not confirmed; In the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' episode “First Date”, Willow gets a coded text message from Xander. She can’t remember whether this one means, "Got lucky, won't be home before dawn," or "In trouble, send Buffy fast!" The scene then shifts to [[Hell Gate| the Seal of Danzalthar]], where Xander’s date - Lissa - has revealed herself [[Horny Devil| to be a demon]] (like all his dates) who had seduced him and is now preparing to use him as a [[Human Sacrifice]] to open the gate, which should she succeed, would [[The End of the World as We Know It|blow the Hellmouth open and start the Apocalypse.]] At first it seems obvious Xander intended the second message, except… Xander’s hands are tied, how could he have texted? [[Fridge Logic| It seems likely]] he had intended the first message, having texted before he realized Lissa’s true intent. Thus, he (and humanity as a whole) is ''very'' lucky Willow erred on the side of caution rather than discretion and called Buffy.
== Music ==
* This is the topic of the Collin Raye song "What They Don't Know," where the narrator sees boys fishing in a tiny puddle and decides not to tell them they're not going to catch anything.
== Newspaper Comics ==
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* Humans in the [[Disgaea]]verse are already pretty damn tough in order to keep up with the various demonic invaders and/or Overlords, but most of the reasons are pretty damn rational ('''Cpt. Gordon''' is military trained, as is Jennifer, while Almaz is a guard and Sapphire a berserker). And then there's Fuka Kazamatsuri. While humans can tap into 30% of their potential without risking self-injury, she manages to tap into the full 100% when her back's against the wall... all by believing ''[[All Just a Dream|that she's in the midst of a soon-to-end nightmare]]'' despite being ''stone dead'' and ''a Prinny'' to boot! And unlike the previous humans, she has no training. ''She's just an [[Ordinary High School Student|Ordinary Middle School Student]] with a lot of ambition!''
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has the Unaware ability makes a user ignore stats increases. They don't realize they're supposed to be debuffed or the opponent buffed.
* In ''[[Shantae|Shantae and the Seven Sirens]]'', Rottytops thinks Shantae isn't going to invite her to the Half-Genie Festival, so she stowes away in Shantae's luggage; truthfully, Shantae ''was'' going to invite Rotty, but couldn't find her (because Rotty was hiding in the luggage). Rotty then disguses herself [[Paper-Thin Disguise| (badly)]] as a hslf-genie, calling herself [[Fail O'Suckyname|Fillin the Blank]], amd performs at the Festval - leading to Empress Siren grabbing Rotty instead of Shantae when she nabs the half-genies. This mistaken identity is pretty much the reason Shantae is able to save them and foil the villains' plans, meaning Rotty accidentally helps the heroine a great deal - and unfortunately, the end of the game suggests she is ''never'' going to let Shantae forget it...
=== [[Visual Novels]] ===
* Shirou in ''[[Fate/stay night|Fate Stay Night]]'' was told that Projection magic was useless, so he stopped pursuing it as his primary magic and simply uses it as a warmup before he tries other types of magic. This is roughly equivalent to performing surgery on someone as a warmup to fixing a radio: Painful, dangerous, has little to do with what you're gearing up to do and something that a non expert should never do. And no one is an expert in Projection because it's seen as incredibly difficult and incredibly useless. ''However'' Shirou doesn't know this, so he basically creates matter from nothing, which is supposed to be an impossible feat even in universe. At best, most people can only keep their projections around for a few minutes and they're of shoddy quality, but Shirou shows the ability to replicate items that never seem to disappear as well as legendary weapons. ''And he doesn't even realize this is amazing.''
== Web Comics ==
* ''[[8-Bit Theater]]''{{'}}s Fighter and Black Belt do this constantly. Black Belt has [[No Sense of Direction]] to the extent that he can ignore gravity and warp the Space-Time-Continuum to appear walking on the ceiling. Fighter, meanwhile, has done things such as fold portable holes into themselves and split himself into multiple Fighters in order to even out conflicting teams. Although this may be more of an achievement in poor organization than stupidity, Red Mage once survived having his skeleton pushed out his mouth because he lost his pencil and was unable to record the damage on his character sheet. Besides, as he claimed, everyone knows that skeletons are vestigial organs.
** Red Mage frequently tries to invoke this trope, with various degrees of success. His approach is probably best summed up with "I know that and you know that, but ''I'' don't know that".
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* [http://www.cracked.com/blog/how-to-solve-the-healthcare-debate-with-violence/ This] Cracked article has Brockway acquire [[Psycho Electro|the power to shoot lightning]] due to misunderstanding a side-effect of Celexa.
{{quote|''When asked to explain this in simpler terms, he elaborated that I was "so retarded that it crossed the line into the supernatural"''}}
== Western Animation ==
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* The Thompson SMG was developed using a "Blish principle" on how two types of metals interact when moving against each-other differently at high and low pressure. The problem is that there is no Blish principle. The gun worked despite being based on a non-existent design principle and created a delayed blowback system by accident. Only the World War 2 redesign eliminated this costly and uneeded system.
* The [[Wikipedia:1999 F-117A shootdown|1999 F-117A shootdown]] was a result of older radar that wasn't aware the plane they picked up was supposed to be "invisible". [[Wikipedia:File:Serbian_poster_"Sorry_we_didn't_know_it_was_invisible".jpg|Propaganda was quick to use this]].
* Burger King introduced the Whopper Junior - a smaller version of their trademark sandwich and biggest seller - this way. Here's how it went down: they were about to hold the grand opening of their first store in Puerto Rico, but due to a mix-up in stock orders they didn't have the molds needed to make the special buns used for Whoppers. Thus they had a choice to make: either use regular buns which would result in inferior version of the Whopper or hold their grand opening without Whoppers at all. They decided to take the first option but altered the composition a little and named it Whopper Junior. And fast-food history was made
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