Knowledge is a dangerous commodity.

If you are like me, you probably heard a slogan similar to this as a kid; "knowledge is power." If you are like me, you took to this philosophy like a fish to water (to use a trite metaphor). However, I wonder at the validity of that statement these days. Knowledge, as we understand it, naturally proceeds from several different places. Firstly, it comes from reading, which is my preferred method for gaining knowledge. Secondly, it comes from personal experience, which is something all humans share in common. Thirdly, it can come from experimentation. By that I mean the process of attempting something time and time again and getting a similar result. As children, we do this often. Think of a child who wants to test the limits of their parents authority. They might try putting a toy in a shopping cart at the store. When the parent says no and puts it back, the child will undoubtedly try again. After a couple of times of this, the child is reprimanded and will most likely not try it again. That is a very crude example of the third type of knowledge and is very closely tied to personal experience, but it works in a practical way. Unlike most scientific processes, everyone does something like the toy in the shopping cart at some point in their life.

How does this all relate to the aspect of "knowledge is power?" Let's go back to the child and the toy; does that child have any more power than before? Sure, that child has greater insight into their parents, and ultimately will not try such an act again, but the child's view of their parents' authority is much larger now. There are consequences for going against that authority. In this respect, the child seems to have less "power" than before. Certainly, the child has the "power" of the knowledge to know not to try putting that toy in the cart again, but this power is limited. When it all comes to a head, the parents win in the "power struggle."

It happens similarly with books and life experiences. Often, the more we read and the more we experience, the smaller we feel in conjunction with the "world." Society, culture and nature seem to exert their force over us and we can't do much about it. Knowledge in this sense is debilitating. It robs us of the ability to look at the world and say, "that is mine! I can make it how I want it!" For many, this blogger included, this loss of a sense that we can really change anything in the grand scope of life, is depressive. What happens when you give to the poor in charity, then read the shocking statics of the U.S.'s ailing economy? Or the severe plight of the starving in Africa? It can be a most unsettling notion to find that your $30 a month does little to change. "Power," at least in this sense, is gone.

I don't want to leave on a depressing note, because, I don't believe this to be a depressing reality. Certainly, it can be depressive and it can be debilitating, but it does not have to be. When I look at the increase in knowledge I see it two fold; there is the harsh reality of life and then there is the reaction to it. As human beings, we can chose to either take this new found knowledge as a debilitating force, or as a rallying cry. While what we do may not "change the world" it can certainly influence a positive direction in some form. That $30 a month may not end poverty, but it may feed a family for a month. A family that now has one more month added to their life.

Knowledge is a dangerous commodity. While it can expose the harshness of the world and life, it can empower us, with a certain reaction, to be more motivated to do what we can. This issue of where knowledge takes us is far more complicated than I can get with one blog post, and there are many more types of knowledge and situations that aren't so, "big" as the one described above. I do think that a correct view to how we take in new knowledge and new information goes a long way towards informing our world view. I chose, in the face of all the harsh realities, to take the positive view. It's a harder road, but it's ultimately more worth it.

-Dan