If it doesn't work, stop it: I don't know

doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7446.1016

BMJ 2004;328:1016 (24 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.328.7446.1016

Letter

If it doesn't work, stop it

I don't know

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

EDITOR—Alderson and Groves suggest that "what we don'tknow we don't know would be a good topic for a BMJ theme issue."¹But, do you know what? It couldn't be done. For to write aboutwhat we don't know, we must surely know we don't know it first,otherwise how could it be an issue?

The only way it could work would be that those who know theydon't know something, but think the rest of us don't know wedon't know it, write about it so that the rest of us then alsoknow we don't know it. Then everything in that issue will nolonger be unknown unknowns, but known unknowns. Do you knowwhat I mean?

Simon M Loader, consultant

RAWM Hospital, PO Box 91, Khulna, Bangladesh saloader@pmbx.net

Competing interests: None declared.