A little knowledge is dangerous thing

A little knowledge is dangerous thing

When I was a young lad, I remember been told that a little knowledge is dangerous.  To my youthful mind, this was confusing as we were also taught the virtue of acquiring knowledge.  Today, we charged relentlessly ahead oblivious of the dangers.

In the old days, knowledge was the domain of the learned, the professionals and the scholars.  These people spend many years to learn their trade with capable masters and instructors.  Ordinary people do not have the luxury of the time or means to access and gain knowledge and hence the acquisition and analysis of complex societal knowledge were outsourced.

The printing press, followed more recently by the Internet, changed everything.  Publishing of articles is no longer restricted to peer-reviewed journals and the mainstream mass media.  It can be published in any web site, blogs, online new portals and the social media.  Search engines make this information easily accessible.  At the same time, misleading and false information proliferated, and it is hard to differentiate good information from bad.   The search engine may return hundreds of thousands or even millions of hits for a search request.  It is humanly impossible for us to read all these articles, so we tend to read the more popular ones returned by the search engines.  Many people, having read some of these articles imagines themselves to be knowledgeable on the topics concerned, not aware that they have only acquired some popular knowledge but not the deep knowledge. Without sound background knowledge of the subject matter concerned, it is easy to misread the articles and come to wrong understandings and conclusions.  The background knowledge may include factual and conceptual knowledge, which may only be acquired by considerable period of study. There are many types of expertise that may be both theoretical or practical.  

Ideally, decision making, should be based on evidence and sound reasoning.  When we do this for our personal use, it is well and good.  If there are any flaws in our reasoning or the lack of knowledge, we suffer the consequences, and we can make the necessary corrections and learn from the mistakes.  This is, however, not so when we teach others and advocate our position to influence decision making by others. The feedback mechanism is now absent and corrections are difficult. Teachers, clergy, leaders and other people of influence must be careful when touching on subjects outside their areas of expertise, but we see them frequently crossing this line.   Too many leaders, in all sectors, assume that they magically acquire knowledge by virtue of their position just because people show them respect.

We need a license to teach, preach and to practice many professions.  Presumably, this is to ensure that the practitioners are qualified.  Today, with the many conferences, forums, training camps and workshop organized, it is easy to bypass the need of a license to teach and preach.  While it is heartening to see young people leading a discussion, it is sad to notice that they may not have the fundamentals in complex subjects.  This is especially so when there is no one there to guide them and provide them a wider perspective of the issues. The blind leading the blind can have dire consequences. Unlearning can be more difficult and frustrating than learning for the parties involved.

There are many conflicting issues here that are not easy to resolve.  Knowledge is always a double edge sword, and the danger is in how it is used.  We need to handle knowledge with care as well as finding the right balance.

KK Aw,

November 2015.

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