During my first interview (Friendly Fire: Episode 79 – Ex Tenebris, Part 1), I mentioned an article that I had written for my college’s newspaper years ago. I found that article in its unedited form hiding on my hard drive, so I decided to rewrite this article which is more of an editorial for two reasons. The original editorial did highlight quite a bit of my youthful arrogance, and the second reason is that I think the topic is still relevant.

Knowledge is Power

I am sure that you have heard the phrase “knowledge is power.” so many times that the expression is more or less cliché, but I am of the mind that phrases such as this one, especially this one, are spoken and written for a reason.

Knowledge is information, facts, and skills that are acquired by an individual through experience or the educational process. There are variations as to how this definition is presented, but they all express the same universal concept; however, the way knowledge has been perceived is anything but.

Historically information and what was known as fact has changed resulting in a shift to our knowledge base, and you do not have to go back to the Stone Age to see that this has happened plenty of times.

An example of this is how doctors thought that the eyes were responsible for transmitting illnesses to other people by projecting some sort of beam that the illness would travel upon. This way of thinking led to the creation of the Plague Doctor Mask having glass lenses so that the eye beams of the sick would not come into direct contact with the doctor’s eyes.

This concept was accepted and taught to aspiring doctors and those who tended to the sick during that time in history, but it was never put into common practice by the general public. Now, if you take away the expense of producing glass lenses; what excuse did the ones in the know have for not informing everyone of something that could potentially save their life?

As strange as this idea is to our modern understanding of how the eye works; my whole point for bringing this up is that knowledge intrinsically holds value, and those who are aware of valuable information do not want it devalued by it being commonly known. A more modern example of this is how recipes for consumer products are guarded because if everyone knew how to make them, then there would be no need to buy those products.

For better or for worse, Knowledge is a device that has been more than a guiding light that has advanced our way of thinking; it has been a path to understanding, a weapon of mass destruction, and a hollow instrument wielded by people who have no idea what they are truly doing with it.

I know what I wrote up there is dramatic in nature, but the power of knowledge is all about how information is presented, received, and then repeated, and in this day and age nothing is properly received unless you stress the importance of it.

I have a habit of listing things, so for the sake of saving you from the mind-numbing task of reading through another list for now, I just want to mention that within the steps I wrote there are plenty of ways that information can be distorted or changed. The information that you intend to present to people can and more than likely fall victim to intentional, unintentional, and circumstantial interpretations. (I know, a list, I apologize.)

Just like anything that has value knowledge is coveted for what it can do. Just think if it was not for the knowledge of Johannes Gutenberg, the person who invented the printing press in the 15th Century books would not have become common enough so that we could pass down knowledge through the centuries ultimately making it possible for us to have the internet and the cell phones that nearly all of us enjoy today. Knowledge is the power that keeps humanity moving Forword.

The Nature of Knowledge

The nature of something that is always in a state of flux means it is constantly changing, and knowledge is that. The collection of what there is to know acts like waves crashing on a beach, it deposits new things on the shore while taking others away. Examples of this are how Pluto is not considered a planet anymore, and how difficult it seems for people to wrap their minds around how things like the pyramids or Stonehenge were built.

The former example has a lot to do with how things are defined which in and of itself is based on the recent tides of knowledge. The latter is an example of a shift in perspective that leads most to believe that monumental tasks cannot be accomplished without modern tools.

Humanity’s overall development is marked by Eras. They express a length of time that represents a certain amount of accumulated knowledge and to a certain point the resources that were used. These Eras are the Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age, Classical Era, Medieval Era, Early Modern Era, and Modern Era respectively.

NOTE: I am aware that these Eras represent a certain perspective on the world, and while they more than likely should be updated to represent more details, I needed a model to highlight a point.

The Medieval Era is known as being home to a period in time known as The Dark Age which is roughly summed up by its decline in economic, cultural, and intellectual aspects. Plenty of academic materials have been created concerning this time and why the decline happened.

In general, The Dark Age is viewed as an extremely dark time especially when it is compared to the light that the Renaissance represented, but the tides of knowledge have never been so cut and dry as this section of history was.

You see the time frame that is considered The Ancient World, a time that brought us The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World was a time between 3000 BC to 500 AD. This time took up most of the Bronze Age and lasted until the dawn of the Medieval Era. Within this time there were plenty of historical events that changed the direction of what at the time was viewed as modern day, and with any change comes a reorganization of thought that leads to conflict, and when the conflict is over, rebuilding begins. This more than often changes the information distributed from that point. Thus the quote “History is written by the victors,” came about.

That is how knowledge is lost, gained, and rediscovered. The nature of what people know are the grains of sand on a beach; there is too much of it to count and some of what we know is barred, but all it takes is a single wave to take what people have known and send it back to dance in the currents until it returns to the shore of humanity’s awareness.

Education’s Intent

The method people use to weather the ever-changing tide of knowledge is learning. Learning is an entirely natural process that provides an individual with the information needed to adapt, survive, and thrive in their environment.

The best example of this is when you observe or think about the first few years of a child’s life. Things like crawling, walking, communicating, playing, observing, and mimicking all teach a child the ins and outs of where they live, and when this environment is expanded or changed new things are learned. Now, this may sound rudimentary, but that is the entire point.

Often people will refer to something as being common knowledge or common since I have done this, but just like knowledge itself what is considered common tends to shift and depends on the point in time, location, and culture you find yourself in.

I take the position that the earliest form of education was simply learning how to survive. When those skill sets were learned, passed on, and at times improved variations of them started to emerge.

Over time, as society grew so did knowledge. The things that were learned were certainly put into practice, and at the same time information was guarded. It does not have to do with any conspiracies or anything like that, people have always recognized the value of knowledge they hold. In fact, to this day you can still see the division in any culture of the world when it comes to the people who are considered educated and those who are not.

All educational systems are structured in the same way, and while what is taught may differ the methodology has not been altered over time. The educational process involves establishing a foundation of information and then building upon it.

Yes, that might be an oversimplified way to put it, but just like you have to learn how to walk before you can run; you have to know how to understand what numbers are and be able to count before you start to add, subtract, multiply, and divide them.

Education is designed to teach centralized information in a step-by-step process that is intended to provide the individual with a way to develop an impression of what other information is in the world to learn; it is not an end-all-be-all system at any educational level, and it certainly should not define you because there are many examples both modern and historical that defy the traditional perspective that education holds.

You may think that what I just wrote appears to be altruistic, lacking, a personal excuse, or anything but correct and that is fine by me, but even if you ascend to the highest level of the academic world by earning a doctoral degree, that does not mean that you know all there is to know. It simply means that you have put in enough effort that other people in that academic field recognize you for what you have done.

All educational systems regardless if it is K to 12 or a higher learning establishment judge an individual on their effort, and that effort is reflected in the grading system used to determine if that person will advance. A to F, 100% to 0%, or 4.0 GPA to 0.0; they are all the same, and they are used to imply as well as enforce the underlying competitive nature of the educational system.

With all respect to anyone who reads this, you have to at the very least respect that there has always been a judgmental divide that has transcended race, religion, or creed, and that is the division between those people who consider themselves educated and those that they deem uneducated.

Do not get me wrong, I am someone who thinks that while not perfect the educational system is vital to retaining and expanding knowledge, but the perception or stigma that the educational system is the only way to amount to anything in life is a misnomer.

Please keep in mind that learning is a choice, education a path, and life is the ultimate teacher; what you do not know does not define who you are, your actions do that. If knowledge is light then there is a full spectrum for people to learn from, and those people who are in the dark have the opportunity to see them all. Until next time, I am Nolan Ex Tenebris.