“Knowledge is power. Power to do evil...or power to do good. Power itself is not evil. So, knowledge itself is not evil” (Veronica Roth). Knowledge is the act of knowing, either information or skills. There are then levels of knowledge, meaning some know more than others, and some less than others. We call those who are knowledgeable on a subject, experts, and those beginning to know, amateurs. It is because of knowledge our world grows ever forward, with it that man grows, and also with it that we rid ourselves of primitive thinking, putting an end to heresies. With it, habits change. The wonderful thing about knowledge is, we are constantly acquiring it, whether or not we are conscious of it.
To acquire knowledge, one must devote time and energy. This energy comes in the form of undivided attention. If that is not so, information received goes to our short-term memory and thereafter, tossed to the seas of oblivion, sometimes for a while, and sometimes indefinitely. I have found this principle: Sometimes in life, one is only able to experience a certain thing once. Likewise with knowledge, some things we only have one opportunity to learn. Knowledge itself can also be obtained unconsciously, and for that type of knowledge, it just occurs without us realizing it, hence why sometimes we have certain habits, that to our knowledge, have no idea where it came from. Still, one can also say that we are still giving our attention-to some degree-to anything we learn, even if we are not conscious of it. To obtain knowledge, one does not necessarily have to go to school, nor read books (as important they are). I for one encourage everyone to attend school and read books, however, they are not the source of knowledge. They merely contain loads of known information which are tied down and distributed to all. To learn, one needs to only observe. The best way to know someone is to observe-an element of attention-their actions, the best way to know oneself is likewise.
Knowledge is all around us, and to better give a description of what that looks like, I've come up with this poetic statement; The wind blows where it wilts; sometimes strong, sometimes soft; as a loud cry, or a whisper, but regardless of the intensity, we see its effects all around, likewise is knowledge. Knowledge is constantly blowing around us, swaying us back and forth, it instructs (when we heed to it), and corrects (when we take hold of it). Since knowledge is all around, it can be found in everything, from the rich man to the poor man; the cynic to the optimist; desirables and undesirables of society; youngest to the oldest. From them comes knowledge, from all comes knowledge. Knowledge yearns to be discovered, seek it and you’ll surely find it. It is ever abundant, infinite in nature. Knowledge is the greatest treasure one can possess, with it life takes on a new meaning. With it, you truly live. With it, you become powerful. Knowledge is power.
Since knowledge is all around, by definition it means that one can learn from anything. With this thought, it leads to-what I perceive to be-two categories of knowledge: positive knowledge and negative knowledge. If such a thing is, then we have to be mindful of the information we harbor. Positive knowledge is characterized as being true, benefits all and dispels falsehood. With positive knowledge society moves forward, it's with this knowledge that generations that are to come, are to excel the former generations. It's also in this positive knowledge that we emulate traits that are favorable. An example of positive knowledge would be the golden rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This golden rule (when held by those who are sane) benefits the world in entirety, with it there is reciprocity, which happens when all parties hold true to their morality; give respect, gain respect; give love, gain love; sow hate, reap hate. Negative knowledge is characterized as being false and therefore does not help society advance-things like false information, and habits that individuals echo, - However, I've come to the realization that the positive knowledge trumps the negative, because we learn even from the negative, positive knowledge.
To demonstrate how positive knowledge can be birthed from negative knowledge, let us use free discourse as an example. Jeffrey Fry once said,” It seems that civil discourse today is governed by those who feel but do not think, while at the same time are profusely outraged but outrageously ignorant.” Society has currently-on a universal scale-implemented a negative knowledge of censoring those with different opinions, refusing to serenely discourse. With such knowledge, truth is no longer dependent on being objective and logical, but rather subjective, emotional in nature. With it, truth is not known, because how can one know truth, if other options are not considered? For your truth to be true, it has to be weighed on a scale versus other “truths.” It is when we collate our truth to others, that our truth either becomes stronger, or weaker. I've come to understand it in this way, “imagine a wall with multiple holes from which water is leaking, the more holes you cover, the less water that leaks out. Likewise, the more we collate our truth with others, the more easily defensible our truth becomes, and the harder it gets for the opposition to disprove it” (Clifton David). With this negative knowledge (adopting a spirit of restricting free discourse) we can learn positive knowledge. From seeing the fruits that this negative knowledge yields, we are able to deduce that society does not advance; we live according to emotion, are irrational and illogical. This realization is positive knowledge because, we then conclude that, when we think logically, rid of certain emotions, are rational, seek truth, don't censor those with opposing views; we see (or will see) an advancement in society, giving birth to a new world where we truly have reasons for believing.
As the saying goes, “Mistakes are a way of teaching you” (Kailey Roberson). Just because the good comes out of the bad doesn't mean we just whisk our lives away, thinking we can always learn something good from the bad, or we live a life of indulgence, because to reiterate, somethings can only be learned once. Second, that is not wise. Wisdom says to learn from others, in doing so we avoid numerous harm that are avoidable. The purpose of human existence is to constantly improve. Not only for the individual since, to reiterate, knowledge is everywhere, and society as a whole benefit. For example (this is wisdom in action) from someone rude and obnoxious, we could learn two things, of which one is negative (in the sense of avoiding such an action) and one is positive (as in emulating). The former is to avoid being obnoxious because society will disdain you. The latter would be positive, to learn to be bold and speak your mind. So, let's not quickly turn away our regard from those who do wrong, not to emulate them, but to observe their actions carefully and take from them what is beneficial, what drives us forward. It is the same principle we see in natural selection, where certain traits are favored and passed down to generations, ensuring that a certain species continues to thrive. Let us favor the ultimate good that we can learn from the actions of many, good or bad, because in doing so you ensure that your character and skills are sharpened.
A common consequence of one having a surplus of knowledge is manifested in the formation of a superiority complex; a belief that one is above being enlightened by those they perceive to be of lower intelligence when compared to themselves. Even if we do not agree with a certain person, we are still capable of learning from them. Even if we are more knowledgeable than others, we are again capable of learning from them. Do not be clouded by irrationality that you miss out on knowledge. Let us not set ourselves up to think those less knowledgeable than us are incapable of teaching us, because as I once said “the quantity if knowledge held by mankind is less than one percent of all that can ever be known, and it will never exceed that one percent,” if that statement holds true, it shows that to any who think they know and demean those who know less than them, (1)compared to all knowledge that can be known you know nothing. Socrates put it well when he said, “I know one thing, that I know nothing.” (2) those you demean are capable of teaching you something you currently don't know, calmness, humbleness, patience, outspokenness. With fallibility comes irrationality, and in that we let emotions rule, but when we put our ego (being wrong) and pride (being right) aside, we are then able to learn from those we do not agree with, those we loathe with every fiber of our being, those we deem intellectually challenged and even those that are wrong in belief with absolute certainty.
There is also a present danger we pose to society, this danger takes the form of the knowledge willingly spewed, without having an understanding of it. Knowledge that is dogmatic in nature. Knowledge that has been collated to other existing or germinating knowledge, which in turn has no fuel, no basis, no life, an empty carcass. If this danger is not addressed, it leads to a rise in heresies. When we act rabidly and spew such knowledge, it affects others, which is thus since we live in communities. To reiterate, since we learn from each other, it causes a multitude of people-those observing-to adopt such knowledge, fueling it and turning it into the orthodoxy of the next generation. This knowledge, overtime, will have evolved into a more grotesque image of its former self, causing more harm to society. The aforementioned example on free discourse perfectly encapsulates my argument. As generations adopt such knowledge, it evolves, spreading more negative knowledge. It becomes a deterrent, impeding true knowledge, causing people to think subjectively and breeding a generation that no longer has an ear to ultimate truth. Thereby, the very laws of nature are then thought of as obsolete.
The knowledge we carry, and scatter must be practical, for the goal of learning is to apply. The very faculty of reasoning that we are endowed with shows such. With this reasoning ability, as Kant said of the generations, they-speaking of the generations- “passes its own enlightenment to its successor.” Thereby, this knowledge is for the use of all the ages; those who are and will be. It also connects to man being in community with others, since everything he does affects the other. In such, he must hope that the knowledge he harbors harms none and helps others; in turn himself. The essence of life is application. In anything you learn, always find “How can I apply this to my life?”, “How will this benefit me?” With the goal of life being constant progress, anything that impedes growth should be rooted from our very being. Any knowledge that in no way shape or form fosters growth, corrupts the individual and his faculties, should at once be pruned from the mind. It is an unnatural thing to harbor such knowledge, therefore its nature of being unnatural brings about undesirable consequences.
Thus, all should strive to know, to fully know. To not demean others but to stay true to their morality. We must hold knowledge that will reform the self and thereby the world, positive knowledge. This knowledge must be practical since the man is constantly sculpting the self, he must adopt what is true and helpful, and leave behind all that corrupts his being. As for me, I'm cognizant of the knowledge that I hold (to some degree), which I know impacts many. It however is my goal to strive daily, to contend with the self, which includes the desires. In doing so, I'll have the capacity to adopt positive knowledge and remove from my being negative knowledge. Withholding the belief that changing the self will change communities around me. As I've stated elsewhere, the effect of changing the self will have a domino effect “changing the world.” Knowledge is beneficial, so cling to it.
Comentarios