Do You Know Too Much?

Z

Zorilla

Guest
Original poster
Knowledge, a concept that many desire and thirst after with such longevity that it makes all other passions seem docile. The ability to 'know' something is always an interesting concept. I could claim mathematical knowledge, yet we say there's always someone out there that knows more than we know, or could know. That all knowledge cannot be gained, yet it's sought after with such thirst that a a drug addict now seems tame.

Why do we search out knowledge?

Moreover, now that one is older, they claim more knowledge by right of ascention and passage. They claim to 'know better' than the younger generations. Likewise the yonger generations claim knowledge over the old, Calling them 'fuddy dutty's laughing and mocking heir 'old fasion' way to do things. When the calculater first came out mathematics laughed at you for not beng able to add without one, and now they have college courses where one is required. Logarythems had beend one for years, using Log Tables, now it's done with a button on the TI-83. Our knowledge blinds us to others perception of the universe. Case and point the older folks telling the yongers they know better because of age. A Doctoral student laughing at a undergrad because they have advanced beyond that threshold. Some may feel this a true way o life others find it a bias pretense to discredit wisdom by age.

Do you think Knowledge is blindness? That we 'know too much"
 
Sounds more like hubris then knowledge. Ego blinds one, a seeking of knowedge is enlightning. Neither stuck in the past nor throwing out everything for the future. Balance in all things in life.
 
  • Thank You
Reactions: Lady Sabine
It's not about what one knows, it's how one uses the knowledge they have.
I have far more respect for some one who learns something because they want to do something with what they've learned, then for people who simply learn so they can say they did.

So yes, In my opinion some one who just hoards knowledge but never uses it can be considered blinded by it.
 
I do not think it's hubris. Be that the case too many people are conceeded egotistical indaviduals, and as much as i'd be ar too fucto accuse them of such I cannot believe that a majority are so conceeded and blinded by thier own ego. Therefore, the resolution must be knowledge. After all knowledge is merely a tool something ot be used like no other. It can be used ot help, to hurt, to aid to hinder, to blind or to enlighten. It is neither good nor evil. The ego is inharently evil, or at least the ego as defined by ones mind set, not deining ones levels of mental conciousness. With ones knowledge we can 'know better' and choose to deny the knowledge another shares. We can look at words, listen to an argument, and contemplate a new rebutle prior tot he finishing statments. I find Knowledge to be a very interesting thing to possess.
 
Which is it? Is knoweldge a tool or is it blindness?
 
Can it not be both> A toll that oten blinds people?
 
I think people claim to know better than certain people but that only means they don't have a clue. Age is just a number; anybody could have a high IQ and be stupid at the same time.
 
Anyone who has gained a decent amount of knowledge will quickly realize that it is impossible to know everything, or close enough to everything to always have good advice. I'm seconding the assertion of [MENTION=12]Autumn Fire Fairy[/MENTION] that hubris blinds, while knowledge simply enthralls.
Much like wealth, I've found that the pursuit of knowledge matters more than actually achieving it. Take college, for example. If you dedicate every waking hour to learning day after day, week after week, and never experience the social life, the opportunities and adventures of being in a new place and having new doors open for you, you've learned so much less than the student who knows to balance learning with living.
As for the use of knowledge, that tends to depend more on situation than personality. Most people know more than they think they know, if they just have the impetus to use it. Finding the self-motivation to apply that information is the real secret to greatness.
 
Knowledge can still blind. How much one knows is able to get in the way of learning something new.

For instance, if you are able to build a building a certain way, yet a new culture builds the same building a different way, it is thereby possible that the first party ignores the second because they 'know' how to do it.

The whole premise is based off of certain Zen philosophers as well as Socrates himself. That's where this whole thing came from.
 
That's like saying people won't learn more than one language because they already "know" how to talk. Maybe one way is better some times and another way is better another time. It's possible to know two ways of doing things, including speech, and a wise person will be able to decide which one is best in each situation no matter how many different ways they learn. Again, it is the hubris of thinking that the first way is the best way that keeps people from branching out.
 
Hubris is only one o many traps.

One could even argue that as knowledge grows hubris is eminent.

However, remember that knowledge gives way to Hubris, wisdom is not inherently knowledge. Onw can have intuition so keen that they are 'wise' Malcom Gladwell is known for even quoting it.

In further addition the Zen Masters, all the way down tot he seventh Patriarch, are known for being scholars who forsake their scholarly knowledge for further greater wisdom in intuition.


Thoug it is true that the most knowledgable of people know that they know nothing, I believe common knowledge that is found is riddled with hubris, and therefore we cannot say it is hubris blinding one but the knowledge htey possess.
 
I will say this, you never stop learning. there is always a subject out there that you've yet to find out. I think everyone has a fair amount of knowledge and we all could learn from one another, but those who say that they know everything and act like it are liars. Insufferable people I can't stand even being around usually.
 
That is a fair point, but i think it's more so interesting to find out if gaining knowledge leads to hubris or not.
 
I'd think you'd get that by just being around a know-it-all to be honest. For instance:

I have a cousin who thinks highly of herself because she is smart, and she obviously thinks that she knows everything. It has given her the idea that she knows more than others so she treats others as if they ere stupid, if I get the definition of hubris correctly, that means my cousin is displaying confidenceand most of all, arrogance.
 
I see you're point, but is knowledge a trap to develop it, is it osmething we have to learn to resist ya know?

I feel the answer is yes, that as we grow in knowledge we find ourselves wanting to fall into that trap, but we can learn to over come and fend that hubris off! ^.^
 
That is true yes, but when you fall into a trap, the best way to get out of it is to rethink. A smart person allows the trap to hold them while a wise person learns to find a way out; arrogance isn't attractive. If you watch the reactions of people around you, and fully analyze your surroundings, then you will realize your hubris and find a way to humble yourself within your own knowledge and move onto learning more.
 
interesting.

I follow the Zen methodology, and look within to obstain from hubris and excess of pride.


I ind that the outside world around me, the media, my amily, they all show Hubris in the moments I look at them to not. My father, for example, believes that he understand my low vision capabilities when in fact he's not ever een to a single doctors appointment. Therefore, I told him that I couldn't see the nail to hammer it in, he demanded i do it anyway.... My fingers got better.


I guess what i'm getting at s that my 'examples' have to come from spirtual writings as a sounding board,. and by bringing those inside me I'm able to listen to myself to adjust myself.



I find that one can still know too muh on a regular base. The average person I've encountered seems blinded by their own knowledge. In fact I've had ot stop myself at pivitl moments of being blinded.
 
Very true. I think we are all blinded to a certain extent, it is just how you decide to fix that and work with it. The moment you realize that you are no better then the next man, that you do have a certain talent that someone else might not have, the better. Everyone is gifted, finding out how to use it is another thing to be said.

Like George compared to Fred:

George is brilliant. He is wonderful at math, excels in science and algebra. He is put on the honour roll for it. However, his English and arts needs serious work.

Fred: He is terrible at math or anything related to it. He flunked algebra in school, and was placed in elementary school math. But he is seen as one of the best artists of his time. He can create plots, and draw like George can solve a math problem.

Both see themselves as geniuses, but only one between these two is seen by society as smart. And that is George, who academically soars, and Fred fails. But this all depends on how you see knowledge.

what does this have to do with hubris? Easy; while George has let the fame go to his head, Fred has learned that while you can be good in one subject, you fail at others, certainly doesn't mean that you are stupid. He has also learned that prancing around like a rooster makes people envy you, and gains you no more friends than you started off with.

As far as arrogance goes, Fred has thus learned to listen to others and what they know. because then, he knows what he does, yet he allows room to learn more as where George, caught up in himself and remains like a brick to learning, refuses to listen to others advice.

I hope that made sense.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back