Friday, May 9, 2008

Knowledge is potential power, wisdom is real power !!!

Extrapolated from a forward ...
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Knowledge is Power ? We hear every day that knowledge is power. But, not really.

Knowledge is information. It is potential power and it becomes power only when it is acted upon. What is the difference between a person who cannot read and a person who can but does not read? Not a whole lot. Right? Lets think here ...

Learning is like eating food. It is not how much you eat that matters, what counts is how much you digest. Only when we digest energy is produced. In our context of knowledge and wisdom I should say, if knowledge is energy then wisdom is the synergy. By synergy I mean the judgements and inferences that we can bring up using the knowledge we have!

Knowledge is potential power, wisdom is real power. Education does not mean that you get the wisdom to do good judgement. Many times we confuse intelligence with good judgment. A person may have high intelligence but poor judgment.

Intelligence is quickness to learn.
Ability is the skill to apply what is learned.
Competence is the ability and the desire to apply what is learned.
Desire is the attitude that makes a skillful person competent.

Good one to think! Am I right?
They say every teaching/preaching can lead to 3 Cs. Convinced, Confused or Corrupt. I am sure I didnt take you to the THIRD-C :-)

2 comments:

Vijay VK said...

But one important thing here is education is an important tool to attain wisdom.

Mani Jayaram said...

Yes Vijay. In a way education gives wisdom. But then, it is the start/foundation to move towards wisdom. Often we people dont use our education to attain wisdom.

All these words have to be arranged this way ... 'Education' gives the 'Intelligence' to attain 'Knowledge'. 'Knowledge' when used judiciously gives 'Wisdom'.

So in a nutshell, Education -> Intelligence -> Knowledge -> Wisdom.