To Know Is Not to Understand
From the Mountain — A Short Story for Those Who Know It All
Have you ever made a comment to someone only to have someone say: “You’re wrong. I know what I am talk’in ‘bout!” Or maybe “Yeah! I know what you mean.” Know what I mean?
“ANY FOOL CAN KNOW. THE POINT IS TO UNDERSTAND.” Albert Einstein
To “know” something means to be aware of something based upon an inquiry or possibly information you have received from somewhere. I know we have a corrupt government. But do I comprehend why our government is corrupt?
To “understand” something is to have the ability to comprehend what it is you “know”. You must be able to grasp the significance of, or have the ability to explain, what you “know”.
In this age of disinformation, there are many who tell you they “know” things. This is a basis for spreading disinformation, spreading lies. A case in point would be the spreading of numerous conspiracy theories such as “CRT is taught in my son’s high school.”
There are a couple of problems this presents which are indicative to the difference between “knowing” and “understanding”.
- The individual who makes this statement does so “knowing” CRT is taught in schools which is a blatantly false statement but they “know” this based upon false statements made by others who claim to “know” this.
- This leads to a growing number of people who now “know” CRT is taught in schools.
But here’s the issue. If these people understood what CRT is, where it IS used, and why they would “understand” what they think they “know” is actually false.
People, far too many people, are simply lazy, uneducated, or ignorant. They read or hear something and suddenly they “know”. This is why we have millions of people believing Trump will be re-instated as King… sorry… as President. They fail to understand even the simple basics of how government works.
There is an inability of far too many to be able to comprehend what the reality is because they have heard lies, repeated over and over, spread by people they have trusted… like a former President.
Too many refuse to take the time to actually learn, to educate themselves, and instead simply rely upon something that has repeatedly been shoved down their throats, especially when from multiple sources.
The next time you “know” something, make sure you also “understand”, comprehend and can explain what it is you know.
I used CRT as an example because of the lies being spread by politicians to scare voters into not voting for others. CRT is not and never has been ever taught in any k-12 school in this country. It is not even taught at the undergraduate level of college. If people actually knew what CRT is, and how, why, and where it is taught, then they would “know”.
So be careful when you say you “know” something because chances are good you probably don’t “understand” what it is you believe you “know”.
