Don’t just be a gatherer of information, knowledge isn’t power until it’s used [Discussion]

Submitted by TreatThompson t3_106q0s9 in GetMotivated

Knowledge isn’t power, it’s potential power.

The power of knowledge is only manifested when the knowledge is applied.

Learning is like rolling a heavy rock up a huge hill. You're building up and storing energy.

Acting on that knowledge is letting the rock go. You set it in motion allowing it to use all of the energy.

We place such a heavy emphasis on knowledge today that actually using it gets lost in the noise.

Knowledge can be incredibly useless or extremely valuable. You can spend 100s of hours learning something, but if you never use it, it's wasted time.

On the other hand, if you do use it, it can lead to the most life-changing actions you've ever taken.

I think we've successfully convinced people that lifelong learning is important. Being in the information age helped accelerate that; learning opportunities are at everyone's fingertips.

Now we need to emphasize action. Manifesting the power that knowledge stores to achieve what we want.

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This post was from my newsletter

I share ideas from great thinkers so we can stand on the shoulders of giants, instead of figuring life out alone

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Comments

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TreatThompson OP t1_j3hvgxz wrote

This quote is a good add-on:

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge”—Stephen Hawking

By closing a conversation, you miss out on the opportunity to get the truth.

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KarrieMichell t1_j3hwsth wrote

And, yet, I am quite content knowing about the largest irradiated lake in the world without using that knowledge for my own gain.

You cannot dismiss the fact that possessing knowledge does have its own power. Personal satisfaction can be very motivating to people.

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TreatThompson OP t1_j3hzdlz wrote

Yeah I definitely agree with you! Reading and learning for entertainment is worth it 100%

This post was more about some of us who will read Atomic Habits for example, and then won't apply any of it, and then watch a video on how to study more efficiently, and then won't apply it, etc.

It's easy to get stuck in the cycle of gathering valuable information but never applying it

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KarrieMichell t1_j3hzvy9 wrote

Then maybe your tip should be about how to apply knowledge instead of focusing on the gathering portion.

You've made it sound like it's useless to gather knowledge unless you intend to use it.

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TreatThompson OP t1_j3i0moc wrote

Yeah good point!

But definitely didn't want to shy away from the vicious cycle of gathering valuable information and never applying it

Thanks for sharing 🙌

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ochristo87 t1_j3hycj1 wrote

No interest in power. Thanks though!

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TreatThompson OP t1_j3i0902 wrote

Haha! I think I get what you mean—power like influence

By power I just meant the core definition of "having the ability to act in a particular way" and then applying that to my personal life by using new skills or building habits etc.

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ochristo87 t1_j3nxje8 wrote

Fair point. I suppose I'd consider that getting value out of the knowledge. Like there's tons of knowledge that you can gain and master that will not in any way provide power over your own life/anyone else's/reality, but it just valuable because it helps you grow.

Go you

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Turbulent_Cow_5652 t1_j3jm2ir wrote

More than ever in the past, we have access to unlimited amount of data and information with a few clicks of a mouse. The challenge is being able to distinguish between facts and opinions, information and disinformation, and evidence and speculation. Once you've fallen into the wrong rabbit hole, it's very hard for many people to climb out of it because of the algorithm's relentless goal to feed your curiosities, biases, addictions, and deepest fears.

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