Uploaded by :: SL Emerick
Most of formal education is still focused on knowledge acquisition. But there really has been a dramatic change in the last 50 to 100 years which makes this less important. First, there’s been an explosion in knowledge. You can know something about most things but it’s difficult to know a lot about everything. Take the example of medicine. There is now so much to know that a generalist has to turn patients over a specialist because they don’t know enough to treat you and often times diagnose you.
How about music. I remember when most people knew all the popular tunes. There just weren ‘t that many. Now there are almost as many types of music as their were songs. “Name that tune” is a lot harder than it used to be. This goes on subject after subject, topic by topic.
Take the champions on Jeopardy. All you have to do to throw them off is give a lot of questions about popular culture or things out of their generation. You could also take something like history and ask questions from out this country such as Nigerian leaders of the 20th century.
Second in the past, this information wasn’t readily available so if you didn’t learn it, you were out of luck. Now on almost any topic, you have instant access to information. The emphasis switches from knowing to being able to find. So what this suggests is a different paradigm in education.
I know in the corporate world this is a shift from knowing to doing. As your boss, I really don’t care what you know, I care about what you can do. If there isn’t an application of knowledge, it has very little value in this setting.
Knowing has its limitations, but knowledge of the information increases one’s ability to think critically when listening to someone else blather about it.
The ability to find information is important, but it can’t eclipse the importance of knowing information beyond the basics.
http://awaitingtenure.wordpress.com/
I didn’t say that knowledge isn’t important but with the expanding pool of knowledge, even the smartest people really know only a tiny fraction of what their is to know. Here’s the example. In Shakespere’s time the English languages had around 25,000 words. It’s alot to remember but certainly possible. Today, there are over a million words in the English language and growing.
So if you had a huge vocabulary of say 100,000 words, you wouldn’t know 90% of the words. So knowing how to look up the words you don’t know quickly is an important skill.
Also having knowledge doesn’t mean you can do critical thinking. In fact, if you can do critical thinking in one field it doesn’t mean you can do it in another. You might be a good critical thinking in English literature and unable to graps basic concepts in physics.
The point is that as the pool of knowledge grow exponentially, it’s important to rethink what you really want to teach about a subject or even general knowledge.
Seems like this would be similar to my ideas of teaching mastery of skills. Teaching people to find information independently with the requisite skills they possess (or have learned) seems key.
[…] Speed Weblog touches rapidly on the topic of the value of knowledge for its own sake in his post Is Knowledge Really Power? It is a thought-provoking point that many unschooling families have dwelled upon when considering […]
Well said, Steve, and I appreciate your comment on my post about class sizes.
The great thing today is you can find almost anything you need on the web; the role of education is to give people context so they can think creatively about how to actually USE what they’ve learned.
I like your blog and look forward to checking it out further.
In corporate training and learning we often get asked about the ideal class size. The answer has ranged from 5 to 8 all the way up to 300 or 400. It just depends on what you’re trying to do.
Thanks for the nice comment
i convey my thanks to you. I have faced some difficulty in understanding “Is knowledge is really power”. if you could
explain it in a clear manner ,it will helpful to me
I believe that in today’s world, with its vast amount of information, the important task is in discerning the essential knowledge from the unessential or one might say the important from the unimportant. What is important or essential knowledge may be defined differently by each person. For me, that knowledge would contain the arts, history, world politics, world religions, philosophy, and sociology. And I might think of some more if I thought about it some more. No more time to think. Have to go.
I have a speech Requaired tommarow I have to make a speech about knowledg is power
same haha
Idiot
Nice article. You know sometimes even after completing graduation, the student doesn’t have enough knowledge, and sometimes, the candidate who hasn’t completed his studies, knows more than that guy.
good information about knowledge
i need a speech on the topic `KNOWLEDGE IS POWER`
same hear bro
without knowledge you are a loser
with out knowledge you are nothing
knowledge is power, since u have the right information and knowledge about some thing you have the power but if you dont know any thing or u=you dont have knowledge then your like a lost rabbit in a forest so any one and any time can use you.
well knowledge is power is like your actually riding bycle you wont fall off till u dont stop paddling.the same way if u have knowledge then ur the king but if u you dont have any knowldeg then your like a bling and dumb person who cant see or do any thing .
hey nice defintion i will send that to my freinds
Kowledge is power
without knowledge ur dump
We need to redifine as “Knowledge is power, only when it is shared. Apparently, the shared knowledge grows and un shared knowledge deteriorate.
Knowing and doing are not the same. All too often we equate understanding and awareness with being able to get results
It has been said that the original quote was taken from Sir Francis Bacon’s treatise. Others say he was condensing a verse out of biblical Proverbs.
If so, what about this one – 2Ti 3:7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
That—was taken from II Timothy chapter 3, verse 7. Is knowledge real power? Yes, if one arrives at the Truth.
Well I consider Knowledge great wealth and better common sense in ways people would need to use in advance further into our new generation.
I believe that money is Power not knowledge.
money is only power when you know how to use it, so you need knowledge to properly use that power, there fore knowledge is power. knowledge is usually used to gain money and then power.
Money is power only to the eye, if somebody has the money, but no knowlegde, everything they have goes down the drain in the other persons opionion as they have nothing to say!
Hey Jay, what about the expression, “a fool and his money are soon parted?”
Couldn’t have put it better myself Steve. So you sort of need knowledge AND money to have power… but knowledge is more important to build up that money and then eventually power.
“Now there are almost as many types of music as their were songs. ”
Miss spelled “their”?
I really don’t care . If there isn’t application and It is little value in this setting
I believe that there are different types of power. Outer power, and inner power. If you have outer power, you can manipulate the outside. If you have inner power you can prevent others from manipulating you. Sort of: outward and inward.
For example, if you have a lot of outer power (knowledge, money, etc.) but don’t have inner power (awareness) some cunning individual can come into your life and use your outer power (by manipulating you) for their own gain. And you won’t know they’re doing it because you don’t have the awareness.
I believe that inner power also requires knowledge. Inner awareness is simply another subject, like money, physics, relationships and they all require knowledge on how to think critically about them. Emotional intelligence, intuition, awareness of your thoughts, feelings, reactions, responses can be learn’t therefore are just more subjects for knowledge.
Creativity is also another subject of knowledge that you can learn even though it is often portrayed as a type of non-thinking that you either have or don’t. With knowledge you can learn to be creative by learning how to think critically on the subject.
Critical thinking is something you have to learn therefore knowledge of critical thinking is another subject area to learn.
Having an inner awareness (which is knowledge) of your personality, strengths, weaknesses, reactions, emotional triggers, etc allows you to control the situation and therefore not be manipulated by others. Awareness in this example is about studying yourself by using critical thinking which results in knowledge of yourself (inner awareness).
without ,,KNOWLEDGE a man is blind it is most important
naseer khan achakzai
It depends on how one looks at power in this context. Knowledge very certainly is power for the individual when it comes to making reasonable decisions.
However, power in terms of how it’s applied in today’s “civilisation” has much more to do with where you were born and how connected and lucky you are. Many people in powerful positions have others do the thinking for them, leaving only the authority part to them. True meritocracy based on competence has unfortunately given way to irresponsible, impulsive behaviour of people whose level of knowledge must at least be doubted. People who deserve some good slaps on their wrists by people who do have the knowledge.
Neil deGrasse Tyson once said “if you’re science illiterate you’re disenfranchising yourself from the democratic process.”
I can only applaud to that.
One of my favourite quotes:
“Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that ‘my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.’”
Issac Asimov
knowledge is what you make it if you have any amount of knowledge its power just dont use it with the wrong power … if you know what i mean
Lord with you,or the Christ is among us.Spirit of God,in Bible through Isaiah 12,those whose minds and hearts absorbed and accepted the word of Lord,speaking this:“On that day you will say:“I thank you, ADONAI,because,although you were angry at me,your anger is now turned away;and you are comforting me.2 “See! God is my salvation.I am confident and unafraid;for Yah ADONAI is my strength and my song,and he has become my salvation!”3 Then you will joyfully draw water from the springs of salvation.4 On that day you will say,“Give thanks to ADONAI!Call on his name!Make his deeds known among the peoples,declare how exalted is his name.5 Sing to ADONAI,for he has triumphed —this is being made known throughout the earth.6 Shout and sing for joy,you who live in Tziyon;for the Holy One of Isra’el is with you in his greatness!”May the Lord protect and bless you,let the God give you peace,and all the best may the Lord gives to you,I wish this to you such what I am.Healthy,alive and well be.Glory to Lord and Christ.Jesus loves you,God bless you.
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