Is Knowledge Really Power?

The old phrase 'Knowledge is Power' is, in my opinion, one of the most true sayings. But as of late knowledge has taken a turn for the worse. I find this out on what has become a daily journey at school. One of my classmates once asked if there were still cavemen, and I don't even wanna talk about the girl in the beauty pagaent. But this is only ignorance on a small scale I suppose.

The ignorance I want to talk about is in our government. As a youngin', I didn't like to really even think about politics. But now as I am getting older, I am starting to worry more about the burden I will start to share here shortly. So I wonder, is it really that easy to destroy a country that was once so great? They can't possibly be that ignorant, can they? Because if they are, a saying that was once so highly regarded to me becomes nothing more that just a few more words on the side. Are they just playing dumb in order to dumb us down, so that it is easier to gain power?

I suppose I'm not alone in my thoughts. Comments? Opinions?

[edit on 22/4/08 by wisefoolishness]

reply to post by wisefoolishness


Short answer: Yes, it is. It's worth quite more then money.

The statement Knowledge is power is only relative to what the situation is, definition of knowledge is, and the definition of power is, and is limited to the wisdom of the proclaimer.

It will always hold true because knowledge both creates and destroys, which is an aspect of power.

Knowledge can lead to ones own destruction if not exacted with an equal or greater wisdom.

reply to post by psychedeliack


And knowledge also can bring your own salvation and able to help on others. You're right. Knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands (See: Shadow Government). But if knowledge is used wisely and it's used for good causes, it may bring salvation to you and others.

reply to post by Dark Crystalline

yup yup yup! I was trying to avoid any spiritual connotation, though the whole Tree of Life VS the Tree of Knowledge explains it pretty well.

well i think differently, you know what Einstein says:

"Imagination is more important then knowledge."

Originally posted by tankthinker
well i think differently, you know what Einstein says:

"Imagination is more important then knowledge."

Which could be true, unless you are mentally unstable.

reply to post by wisefoolishness


Is Knowledge Really Power?......


I'm not telling.........heh, ehhh, heh.....

I suggest you take the knowledge OUTSIDE this small ATS community!



Show ENDGAME and TERRORSTORM in your community, go on Yahoo Answers and try to inform people there. Post links to the free server nw0.info....




Yes, I was doing it for a while, and most of my posts got deleted by the Yahoo Answers admins, I wonder why...

[edit on 22-4-2008 by thetruth777]

In most circumstances I would say yes, knowledge is power. In some it is not.

If you go into a convenience store to buy a soda and a gunman comes in to rob the place and shoots everybody on site, thats random violence and all the knowledge in the world will do you no good.

If you know a gunman is coming than that knowledge will save your life. You know not to be there or to have a gun yourself and shoot first.

If you truly want to survive you need to be able to out think, out fight or out run everybody else. In that order.

Knowledge, and control of knowledge. Let the people think that issues are too complicated for them to get involved in, and they will do nothing, allowing those in authority to control them.

Sure, knowledge is potential power. Information is potential power. It doesn't manifest into real power until it's applied. Hopefully, applied with the benefit of wisdom, which is something else altogether.

Then you've got ignorance, which has been said to be bliss. So if you've got the wisdom to apply information and knowledge in the right way, you have the power to deny bliss. I mean, ignorance.

reply to post by yeahright


Ignorance may be bliss, though not all bliss is ignorance; no need to deny it, just deny not knowing the difference.

reply to post by psychedeliack


I'm trying to determine if I've heard that as a song lyric or a line from The Sphynx on "Mystery Men".

Made me smile, anyway.

Here's another old chestnut - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So we go from blissful to dangerous to... something. I'm not so sure we have too many examples of people progressing out of the Danger Zone. Probably need to go deep into antiquity for that one. Or at least to the barber shop.

No. The idea that "Knowledge is Power" is an easily palatable nostrum peddled by librarians, academics, and others whose lifework is mainly ineffectual in affecting the real world. Knowledge is nothing more than a type of capital, and unless used, or in some way put to work, is as impotent as a 110 year old eunuch who's drunk a bottle of Jack Daniels.
Knowledge is nothing more than a potential asset, and a tragically underutillised one at that.

[edit on 23-4-2008 by Shazam The Unbowed]

[edit on 23-4-2008 by Shazam The Unbowed]

Yes, but it depends on the knowledge and whether or not you know how to wield it's power.