Tree of Knowledge No. 1, Hilma af Klint, 1913-1915, Glenstone. Wikimedia Commons
“New knowledge is the most valuable commodity on earth. The more truth we have to work with, the richer we become.”
Kurt Vonnegut
What is knowledge? Many people have attempted a definition, but there is no single way to define this concept. Is it merely about facts, data, information, or is knowledge something greater than these?
Vonnegut talks of ‘new knowledge,’ and ‘truth.’ These are highly important, but they are not simple, in that, in order to make best use of knowledge and truth, we need to acquire certain personal qualities.
Perhaps the ‘richness’ he refers to points to the fact that, in order to really know, we also have to gain in understanding on many levels and from many perspectives, such as moral, observational, intuitive, intellectual, philosophical, spiritual and experiential. Knowledge, real knowledge, is much greater than mere facts and basic information.
Eugène Joors: Lady with a Parrot. c 1890. Wikimedia Commons
“Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”
Albert Einstein
Without a depth of comprehension, we merely commit facts to memory, repeating them like parrots, without applying any kind of critical thinking, without grasping meaning, or perceiving any important deeper implications.
- ‘Knowledge is power’
Real knowledge is extremely valuable; it cannot be taken from us and it will be empowering and strengthening. The possession of knowledge will increase our confidence, tolerance, empathy, adaptability and resilience. It gives us power because it enables us to engage in critical thinking, to differentiate between what is beneficial and what is damaging to us and to other people, to make informed decisions and to create real, constructive change in the world around us.
Knowledge lasts a lifetime, and it grows and expands as we grow and mature. Lifelong learning and the continuous acquisition of knowledge will enhance our personal and professional development and improve the quality of our life. The world has so much to offer us in terms of knowledge and it is, indeed, a lifetime’s task to assimilate as much as we can along the way.
Learning and acquiring knowledge also forge bonds and strengthen community spirit.
“Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.”
Paul Kalanithi
From an early age, we have learnt with others. The impact of this communal learning is considerable. The world itself is a great teacher. The act of being with both human and animals, in whatever circumstances, in cities or in the countryside, will always bring different kinds of learning.
Learning with others in a community encourages support and skill-sharing; it creates new connections and friendships. Being with others in a learning situation, at whatever age, can lift our spirits and our mood and give us a feeling of shared understanding and companionship.
- There are no absolutes where knowledge is concerned
If we are searching for absolute truth, for ‘pure’ knowledge, for facts that are totally, unchallengeably right, we will end up feeling disappointed. Everything changes, and new experiences, new findings and discoveries can alter previously accepted ‘absolute’ truths in an instant.
Flat Earth map drawn by Orlando Ferguson in 1893. Wikimedia Commons
“Historically speaking, just about everything we know to be ‘absolute’ will eventually change due to ‘new findings’.”
Gary Hopkins
“There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths.”
Nietzsche
Facts, knowledge and truth are not permanent fixtures, and they are influenced by culture and by personal perspectives. Inevitably, we filter what we perceive in the world through our own personal lens; our ways of thinking will be affected by our own experiences, biases, mindset and opinions.
This means that everything that we may perceive as ‘truth’ can be challenged and, subsequently, reviewed and altered. Nietzsche challenged the fixed beliefs that people hold and encouraged them to question, to doubt, and to desist from seeing these as immutable.
“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.”
Marcus Aurelius , Meditations
“I’m for open-mindedness and tolerance. I’m against any form of fanaticism, fundamentalism or zealotry, and this certainty of ‘We have the truth.’ The truth is far too large and complex. Nobody has the truth.”
Philip Pullman
Doubt and questioning are crucial when we are searching for new knowledge. Having a healthy dose of skepticism is beneficial, for it means that we have learned not to accept whatever we are told or ‘fed’ by the media or by other people.
“Doubt is one of the names of intelligence.”
Jorge Luis Borges
Instead of ‘swallowing whole ‘new ideas, the person with discernment will question in an intelligent way, which will help to clarify and validate the information.
“If we would have new knowledge, we must get a whole world of new questions.”
Susanne Langer
“..another way of learning for me is to state my own uncertainties, to try to clarify my puzzlements, and thus get closer to the meaning that my experience actually seems to have.”
Carl R. Rogers
- Not knowing and the acquisition of wisdom
Confucius, circa 1770. Wikimedia Commons
“To know what you know and what you do not know, that is true knowledge.”
Confucius
In this current world of high speed information, cutting edge technologies and quick-fire solutions, not-knowing might initially appear highly undesirable. The urge to know, and to discover knowledge speedily, is often regarded as ‘cool’.
Paradoxically, not-knowing and being aware that we do not know everything can lead to increased knowledge! How can this be? We will be more able to search for evidence, to ask questions, and to listen to other people if we do not fool ourselves into thinking we know everything.
Using our natural wisdom and intuition will also help us identify those who profess to have knowledge but who do not, actually have this.
“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance – it is the illusion of knowledge.”
Daniel J. Boorstin
In fact developing a capacity not to know can be highly creative and freeing. Instead of rushing to find knowledge and facts, what if we were to allow some degree of uncertainty, wondering, curiosity? Could we take the risk of facing the unknown and give ourselves, and others, some space and time to wait and see what emerges?
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.”
Mark Twain
If we stay with not-knowing, then we might engage with fresh possibilities, discovering new truths.
“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it’s much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong.”
Richard P. Feynman
There needs to develop an ability to wait, staying with the sometimes difficult state of not knowing answers and ‘living in the question.’
- One step further: knowing nothing
Many of the greatest philosophers made a similar statement about knowledge: that they know nothing.
“To know is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.”
Confucius
“I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing.”
Plato
“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
Socrates
Of course, in reality, these great figures possessed considerable amounts of knowledge as highly intelligent human beings. But what they were referring to in their wisdom was the fact that we can only know so much about the universe, and, even if we think we have some knowledge, this is as nothing compared with all there is to know.
We can always, always, learn more, and we cannot possibly learn everything. If we can recognise that our own knowledge is limited, then we will be freer to learn and acquire new learning. This is also how we gain in wisdom, through having a good deal of intellectual humility and openness to change and new knowledge.
“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows”
Epictetus
Wisdom involves not only having knowledge, but also knowing how to apply it with common sense and understanding. It is about being aware of the implications and possible consequences of using and acting upon our knowledge. It concerns the application of knowledge with wise judgement, not putting the knowledge into rash or impulsive action, together with a constant awareness that ‘we know nothing.’
This requires patience and a faith in the process of gradual, natural discovery, as we slowly gain in wisdom and self-knowledge.
- Self-knowledge
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
Socrates
[“Socrates supposedly made this declaration while defending himself at his trial for impiety and corrupting the youth of Athens. When offered a chance to stop his philosophical questioning to save his own life, he famously refused, stating he could never give up examining himself and others.”(Wikipedia)]
If we wish to be knowledgeable about the world, then we need to start with the self. Without self-knowledge our ways of seeing will be skewed and distorted by erroneous and subjective beliefs, past experiences, prejudices, projections and biases.
We will fail to understand others, as we will not be able to see them with any kind of clarity; we will, inevitably come to flawed conclusions about them, based on our own, inner falsifications. The lens through which we view the world will be distorted and our lives may, indeed, not be ‘worth living.’
- Being open-minded helps us acquire knowledge
“Knowledge grows when you ask stupid questions. Stupidity grows when you don’t ask anything.”
Richard Feynman
Having a mind that is accepting, flexible and tolerant of new ideas is crucial in the search for knowledge. If we are shut inside an entrenched, doubt-free mindset, we are constrained by our own restricted, dichotomous worldview. If we always want to be ‘right’ and never appear uncertain or ‘stupid,’ as Feynman says, this will, inevitably, put limitations on the questions we might ask, stunting creativity, clarity and vision.
Constantly striving to find the ‘right’ questions, means that we will not allow ourselves to be spontaneous and free. We will be constantly editing our questions and judging ourselves.
It is also certainly not stupid not to know an answer. Many people jump in with false information, just to fill the space with words, or with any kind of impulsive answer, or with criticism. This is in order to try to mask a lack of comprehension, and perhaps some envy.
“Obscurity is dispelled by augmenting the light of discernment, not by attacking the darkness.”
Socrates
Questioning, both ourselves and others, without expectations of a quick response, can challenge fixities and rigidities of thinking. It can mean that long-held, worn out and outdated ideas can be aired and discounted if they no longer have relevance.
“The important thing is not to stop questioning; curiosity has its own reason for existing.”
Albert Einstein.
Knowledge is an investment that grows and grows in value, which no-one can steal from us. If we spend time in the present amassing such ‘riches,’ this will pay enormous dividends in the future. The wonderful truth about having knowledge is that it will always be with us, a constant companion throughout the good and the bad times in our life.
“Knowledge is power, power provides information; information leads to education, education breeds wisdom, wisdom is liberation. People are not liberated because of lack of knowledge.”
Francis Bacon
© Linda Berman