Knowledge Plumbs Darkness

A bit poetic, perhaps. But I love this first para in what is termed as “Epic Mission Statement” of Knowledge Mosaic.

Knowledge bends light and splits atoms. Knowledge plumbs darkness and scales heavens. Knowledge witnesses the birth of everything from nothing. Knowledge peers around corners, and heralds the dawn. Knowledge gathers together our partial, splintered reality and makes it whole. Knowledge makes us powerful.

It is true that Knowledge accounts for a lot of what makes us better, smarter and more intelligent. How do we go about gaining that knowledge? How do we know what we don’t know?

4 thoughts on “Knowledge Plumbs Darkness

  1. What a fantastic question – How do we go about gaining that knowledge? But I think before answering this question, we need to know what we call as knowledge? For example, if I know how to make a Television or how a Television operates, can I consider that as knowledge? To my mind, it says, yes it is knowledge. But the problem is by attaining that knowledge am I satisfied that I have attained knowledge? No, I always feel that there is something else or more knowledge I need to attain.

    So, the point is there will always be something more to attain in terms of knowledge. So when will I say that I have attained the knowledge?

    Some may argue that it is never fully attained and the idea is to continuously improve on attaining more and more knowledge. So what if I continuously attain knowledge? What does it give us?

    Your last line in the quote says knowledge MAKES US POWERFUL. Yes, the more knowledge we attain the more powerful we are. But the more powerful we are the more anxious we are to attain more knowledge so that we remain the most powerful.

    But is that the objective of knowledge – To make us powerful.

    Now, assuming that is what we all want, the solution should be to attain that knowledge after which there is nothing more to attain. In other words, what is it that by knowing which we do not need to know anything else. If we know that then we don’t need to be more powerful anymore as that would make the us the most powerful for ever.

    May be that is why Scientists are all trying to find out the GOD PARTICLE, or the Unified Theory. May be that is why Saints and Sadhus are all trying to find out that knowledge by knowing which we do not need to know anything else.

    But that one knowledge seems to be very elusive to all.

    All I can say is that, that one knowledge must be the basis for all TRUTH and hence it is called the SUPREME TRUTH and that is why it is said that we must all meditate upon that SUPREME TRUTH – सत्यं परम् धीमहि

    Thanks

    1. Chandu,
      Thanks. Knowledge is not an end in itself. But knowledge leads us to ideas and discovery. Some times the quest of knowledge is more important than knowledge itself.

  2. My only problem is the title says “Knowledge Plumbs Darkness”. Has it with whatever knowledge we have attained about this world or Will it ever?

    Thanks

    1. Anything concise is not precise 🙂

      Take a certain area say personal health. A knowledge of what affects health can illuminate certain patterns you see in life. I think of it as progressive.

      Frankly, I am far from Ultimate knowledge and other similar concepts. I think of knowledge as incremental. Every bit of additional knowledge shows you how much you don’t really know.

      The knowledge we have about the world has been incremental and I don’t think of it as ever being complete. Each one of us chips away in a specific area of interest. For example, even after 30+ years of startups, I still don’t know what makes a product successful. But my knowledge in that space is getting better all the time.

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