"Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more."
-----William Cowper
I believe in humility, but more than that, I believe in wisdom.
It's natural to look down on those who seem to 'know' less than you. In an Information Age, people who do not posess the ability to gobble up facts, left, right and center - are at a disadvantage.
I for one, believe that intelligence or wisdom, is independent of knowledge. You may have a mine of knowledge in your mind, but if you have not the ability to analyse and deduce, to sift and sort, to reason and question, in short, to think rationally, logically, and intelligently, all that valuable matter is fit for the drain. Then you can make conversation perhaps, but not arguments.
An intelligent man can make use of the facts that are available to him, however little, and make much out of them.
A distinction can be made between knowledge, in terms of facts , and knowledge, gathered into a body, for eg, science. One can well imagine the pleasure recieved in the study of an entire body of knowledge (or subject), especially if one has a natural inclination for it. Bring an intelligent mind in contact with meaningful matter and there you have a promising union.
But where random facts are concerned, which offer no illumination whatever, on any subject whatsoever, I cannot imagine why people must and will feed on them. Selective knowledge, to my way of thinking, is the best kind of knowledge. (Of course, the rest depends on your intelligence)
posted by Sylvia D'souza at 11:05 am
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