Knowledge Levels #11

Knowledge is power

I often hear people say that knowledge is power. That is true, but only if what you know is the truth — if what you know is false, that knowledge is not a power, but a weakness, for it will cause you to do things that in the end will not give you the results you want. So not all knowledge is power. Here is how I rephrase this sentence:

Knowledge of the truth is power

Levels of knowledge

There are 4 levels of knowledge, which we all go through, when we learn something new. Let’s look at them all in order:

I don’t know, what I don’t know

This step is the first one, because it is here that we learn what we need to know in order to master the field we are interested in. For example, you may be interested in becoming a doctor, but you don’t know what you need to know to be a good doctor.

I know, what I don’t know

When you go to register in a medical school and they give you a list of the courses you need to study and pass to become a good doctor, you go to step 2, because now you know what you don’t know but, what you need to learn, to become a good doctor.

I know, what I know

Once all these subjects have been assimilated, you now know the areas in which you are strong, and this even helps you to choose a field, so that you can specialize in a field and stop being a generalist. If you can make this decision based on the subjects in which you have the most knowledge, it is because now you know what you know.

I don’t know, what I know

The ultimate level is one where you have learned so much about your field, that you find yourself doing things that you didn’t even know you could do. Have you ever done something and been surprised because you didn’t know you were capable of such a feat? That’s what happens when you’ve developed your skills in a field so much (medicine for our example), that certain things start to come naturally to you, without you even having to sit down to think about it. And that’s how we invent new ways of doing things that our teachers didn’t teach us. Have you ever done a feat, but when you’re asked to explain how you did it, you have trouble? It’s a sign that you don’t know what you know (or what you’re capable of). However, for the sake of others, it would still be better for you to learn how to pass on this knowledge, so that it is not limited to you alone.

Reaching this level of knowledge requires that you spend a good number of years in the field.

Concepts

Another very important point we will have to agree on is that sometimes we use the same words, but not to mean the same thing. For example, for some people when they hear the word problem, it means a difficult situation that has come to ruin their lives. On the other hand, others define problems as opportunities to be seized, to grow. Therefore, if two people with different understandings of the word problem meet and use the word problem in their conversation, there may be a misunderstanding because they will use the same word, but with different ideas in mind. The very basis of communication is to communicate to the other person exactly what you have in your head — and we can’t do that successfully, if we have different definitions of the words we use. Since you started reading the stories on this blog, you probably now have a different idea of what a law is. That way, I’m sure that every time I write the word law here, you and I will understand the same thing, and that will allow us to communicate effectively. If I can give another example of a concept, I would use the word leader. For some people, being a leader means holding a high position in an organization (a company, a country or even a family), while for me, being a leader means influencing others. In other words, in my opinion, someone can occupy the position of president of the republic, but if the population voluntarily (without being forced) adheres to someone else’s demands, it is this other person who is the leader, although he or she does not occupy the position of leadership, because leadership is not a position one occupies, but a role one plays. We will talk more about leadership later in this blog — here I just wanted to use it as an example. If I never told you what I think about leadership, you would never have known that every time I write the word leadership, I think of a role, not a position.

In this blog, we are going to redefine several words that we use but of which we don’t really understand the real concept. I would like us to do this exercise because using a word without understanding it results in the misapplication of the role to which the word relates. For example, if you don’t understand that a problem is an opportunity that you can use to grow, you’re not going to act on it. Similarly, if you don’t know that being a leader means influencing others, you won’t try to understand how to impact others, and therefore, even if you are in a leadership position one day, it will have no impact whatsoever on the people you serve. Understanding the definition of words will allow you to use them well in their concept, but will also allow you to communicate well with those who understand exactly what the words mean.

Question of the week: Is there an area that you know so well that you can say that in this area you don’t know what you know?

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