Knowledge is Power
Or not.
How many people do we know that have a vocabulary that would shame the possessers of P.H.d's in English Literature, but are unknown.
How many Theoretical Physisists do you know by name?
How many polymaths have you ever met?
Wouldn't it make sense that if Knowledge is Power, then the Leaders of any country would be examples of the most brilliant minds in their countries. But, they're not.
Knowledge gives you access to facts, figures, and measurements which anyone can memorize. It's like the winners of the Jeopardy TV show. Who has that kind of knowledge at their fingertips? And what do these famous winners (some who won over 4 million dollars!!!) do now? Are they captains of industry? Leaders of nations? Supreme Court Justices? Nope. They're game-show hosts, actors, writers... Though one started out as a paralegal. They don't wield any power.
Maybe it's not the accumulation of information. Maybe it's understanding. Being able to link pieces of information to each other to know at a deeper level. Take a look at history. What was the major effect of the Roman Conquest of the Holy Land? The Romans came in after the Greeks, so we now had 3 different languages, customs and religions in the area. The Greeks and Romans were polytheists, with a god for every situation. The Greeks even had a shrine to "the unknown god" in case they forgot one. But the occupation of the Holy Land had a big problem: the Israelites prayed to only one god and they had a completely foreign culture and philosophy of life. There were protests and riots, assassinations and assaults. And what is the result of living in a war-torn country? Diaspora.
The Jews moved through the Greek-held and Roman-held countries. They spread their customs, religion, and culture throughout the Mediterranean. How do we know this? Trace the arts, the languages, the customs, and the religion. There were synagogs popping up all over. Most of the New Testament was written in Greek. Paul was a citizen of Rome (the empire).
If you understand the movement of a group of people and the reaction to immigrants in these countries now, can you understand the reactions 2000 years ago? But understanding this information and drawing connections has not given us leaders with the ability to think into the future or by inductive reasoning project the outcomes of their behaviors. They still think short-sightedly.
Trigger Warning: These thoughts are my own and may be based on incomplete information.
Think of Americans. They react emotionally. They will decry the unprovoked attack for a month or two, then disapprove of it for another couple months, then wonder what scandal is erupting in Hollywood this week. Now think of the Russians. They will decry the unprovoked attack while they're attacking someone else. They know that if they continue to fight as if they've already won, the Americans will soon lose interest. They know, also, that they can outlast any resistance they face and will win eventually. And the Americans will still protest strongly against the aggression but will not retaliate because they don't want to spend more money.
So, do people with great understanding lead countries, build successful businesses, become well-respected in their community? Sometimes. But there are exceptions. Some people with great understanding may not, in fact, have enough information to make good decisions. So we need to change that to
Knowledge and Understanding are Power!
But maybe it goes one step farther. What was the one thing Solomon asked God for before he ascended to the throne? Wisdom.
How does the serenity prayer view wisdom?
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Does this prayer ask for information? "If I know all the facts about my addiction and the clinical trials stating the eventual outcomes of my behavior, I will adjust my behavior to allow me the longest life possible with the least amount of stress, selfishness, and death." That does not appear in the prayer.
Does the prayer ask for understanding? "If I understand all the consequences on the people I love and who love me when I allow myself to be involved in self-destructive behavior, then I will change my behavior to reduce this effect." That also does not appear in the prayer.
The supplicant asks for serenity, for the act of acceptance and recognition of things beyond personal control. The supplicant asks for courage, facing resistance and opposition, (often from the person himself) to change his environment, his way of thinking, and recognition of precipitating events in order to change himself. Then he asks for discernment--wisdom to recognize which scenario he's looking at.
Wisdom allows people to avoid bad decisions by looking at their past experiences. We gain experience by making bad decisions. Then we gain wisdom by learning from them. Vicious circle! And wisdom used for personal gain results in personal power. Personal power may not translate into influence if it is focused on self. It only becomes influence if it serves more people. It is for the greater good.
So Knowledge is not power without understanding Knowledge and Understanding are not power without wisdom Knowledge, Understanding and Wisdom are not power unless wielded for the greater good.
So who determines the greater good?
It seems that it is easier to repeat someone else's determination than to make one's own. What can we change? In what way can we change it? What are the long-term results of this change?
If we take the easy way out and just spout the diatribes, the sound bytes, the conspiracy theories, then we can just wait for the next crisis and learn a new script. Then things may change but for the worst because we don't do our own thinking.
Pursue knowledge, but also strive for understaning, and seek wisdom. We all have the faculties that will allow us to dig deeper and understand with more breadth and insight, developing an awareness that awakens the wisdom we have accumulated over our life-times. For an advanced civilization we have really acted foolishly, and we've assigned our greatest assets--our minds, our intuition, and our accumulated wisdom, to foolish people who only seek short term rewards.