Welcome to my Silo
Jan 26 '08
The Bottom Line Knowledge is power
Ever thought, even for a moment, we each live in a silo?
Well I think many of us do, even if only subconsciously. Of course by silo, I mean we see our lives as limited – and limited just means they are not as full as we, deep down, know our lives could be.
But how is this possible – and why is it so?
I invite the reader to enjoin me on a journey – a journey that has no end as we know it and will probably pose more questions than it answers.
It all starts when we agree to be born. Birth, after all, is simply the official beginning of the human experience. One could argue that point is conception. We then live for a time, I doubt it really matters how long, and then we die. Death, by the way, is the official end of the human experience.
It is clear to me that this is a journey and that we take that journey for a reason, and we don’t know what that reason is – but once realised, it is time to move on, that is, to die.
So what happens?
When we are born surely this comes as a shock. There we are, totally dependant on others for our survival. No wonder those first few years are when we learn the most we will ever learn, albeit from a low base!
After a while we begin to relax a little, and at that time we start to worry less about survival and consider more the wonder of all that is around us.
Most people do a bit of many things throughout their lives and equally most people have a particular interest in one or perhaps two particular aspects of life. This is indeed a very fortunate accident of the human condition since no one person has ever come close to being expert, knowledgeable or even well versed in everything. That has been the case for thousands of years and, I contend, is an accelerating trend.
The reason for that acceleration is, of course simple. As the decades go by we, as a species are learning more than ever before. There is therefore a need to specialise – to have people willing to devote their lives to understanding the law, economics, engineering – the list is endless. Now our combined knowledge is so great we can no longer aspire even to one discipline – the amount of knowledge is so vast we would never be expert so we no longer talk of, for example, engineering but civil engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and on it goes.
People that really excel in a particular field even have honours bestowed upon them – they become Masters, Doctors, Professors and many greater titles abound.
So what is wrong with that, I here you ask none too patiently.
Nothing.
Nothing, that is, until we make the fatal mistake of assuming that anyone who has even done well at something is good at everything.
So who does that, I here you ask even more impatiently.
From time to time we all do. If we think about it who hasn’t thought that if someone is educated, beyond the basics, they are, by implication, intelligent, and by further implication, more intelligent than average – and more intelligent than even me!
Your lowly scribe contends that mastering reading, writing and arithmetic is basic to our twenty first century needs. However, pretty well anything beyond that needs to be for the right reason/s – and that herein lies the challenge.
The right reasons to learn are those reasons that add value to that individual’s life. So if a person is really interested in accounting, they should study it. And the same for plumbing and absolutely everything else. If the learning is for the right reason the learner will become even more invigorated by the prospect of enhanced knowledge in that field – and that is where new and often great discoveries come from.
We need to acknowledge that great discoveries have occurred by chance and even through apparent ignorance, but the chances of discovering something great are significantly enhanced by an individuals excitement towards the study and application of something specific.
Probably due to the never before seen advances in what is generally known as science and/or the academic pursuits, recent decades have seen particular reward for those that seek and pursue academia.
But what of the vast majority that do not?
These people contribute just as much, are just as intelligent and are every bit the equal of the doctors, lawyers and engineers.
In many cases these are the free thinkers.
The point is rather than laud academic education for academic education’s sake, we would be much better advised to laud knowledge and awareness.
We all know people who are wise – and yet often these same people are not academics.
So do we kill off all the academics? Absolutely not. We need them for who they are – people, ordinary people with a love for a specific part of the human condition.
They are in their respective silos, we in ours.
All we need do is to be aware of the siloing of society.
We need to realise it as a natural state of affairs, that it serves a purpose and that it is nothing to be too concerned about.
How true it is – knowledge is power.
That is ALL knowledge, dear reader, howsoever gained.
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Member: Peter Smith
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