{"id":157449,"date":"2020-04-06T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=157449"},"modified":"2020-04-02T09:43:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-02T08:43:42","slug":"acquiring-knowledge-and-wisdom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2020\/04\/acquiring-knowledge-and-wisdom\/","title":{"rendered":"Acquiring Knowledge and Wisdom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Knowledge appears in various forms and of various subjects \u2014 science, social sciences, mathematics, economics, etc. Not only newer forms of knowledge such as\u00a0AI<\/strong> (Artificial Intelligence) or\u00a0Robotics <\/strong>are emerging, but the nature and features are constantly increasing. I am using the word features to suggest the extension or details of the concept of knowledge.<\/p>\n

For example, there were 92 elements known to scientists by the turn of the 20th century; but after the path breaking research carried out painstakingly by\u00a0Marie Curie<\/em>\u00a0and her husband, several newer elements that were radioactive, were discovered. She and her family were awarded in all\u00a0five Nobel Prizes for their original researches.<\/p>\n

In the field of history for example, newer facts are constantly being added to our knowledge of even Medieval or Ancient History, not to speak of modern times of any country \u2014 China or India or France. Our understanding is constantly increasing and getting refined by newer approaches and tools. One subject called Subaltern Studies<\/em>,\u00a0that reflected the importance of ordinary people, not just kings and princes, emerged a few decades back.<\/p>\n

We may similarly refer to the subject of Geography. We have been learning about rivers, seas, mountains, glaciers earlier even at the School or College level. But today these entities are not considered separately but there is an intermingling and amalgam of these which is responsible for our understanding of global warming, climate change and sustainability of our planet.<\/p>\n

In\u00a0photography, we had earlier only black and white and still photos. Today we have colour and videos and other features in this area that we could only dream of earlier.<\/p>\n

The subjects of Politics and Economics are constantly growing as is evident from what is occurring in different parts of the world. The politics of USA is evolving and is of interest to all scholars. Now, China and to an extent Japan and India are objects of study and analysis. Similarly, EU and the decision of Britain to exit from it (Brexit<\/em>)\u00a0holds the attention of not only politicians but also of scholars, journalists and media personalities.<\/p>\n

Bodies such as\u00a0IMF,\u00a0WTO, WB<\/em> (International Monetary Fund, World Trade Organisation, World Bank) have come up to effectively usher in the impact of economics on politics. A Nobel Prize in Economics in which the recipients have largely been from western countries, was established in 1968 with headquarters in Sweden, reflecting the importance of this subject in the\u00a0new liberal economies of the world. As an interesting aside, one of my classmates in Delhi University\u00a0 Parthasarathi Dasgupta\u00a0<\/em>but who was then in Cambridge University, was strongly rumoured to be in the running for the Eco Nobel a few years ago. Unfortunately, he did not make it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Technology, by its very nature is constantly changing by the applications of\u00a0scientific discoveries and the pressure of our wants and ambitions. I have already referred to robotics which is being put to use especially by so called advanced countries of the West which need robots to do simple household chores of cleaning and dusting etc. Another of its interesting applications is to learn different languages with its help.\u00a0On line<\/em>—off line <\/em>terms have become part of our vocabulary by the advances in computer science, mathematics and journalism. We are able to get information about events as they say, by the touch of a button.<\/p>\n

We have been talking of the emergence of newer forms and nature of knowledge. An important question that arises is, \u2018Are we acquiring wisdom\u2019 in the process?\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n

It would seem not, if we consider what Albert Einstein, a renowned scientist whose research led to the emergence of theory of relativity and subsequently to quantum physics and nuclear power, had stated. He was against the development of nuclear bombs. But although he was located in USA and strongly refuted the use of nuclear bombs to settle political differences in his writings to the US President, his advice was not followed and Japan was devastated by dropping two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.<\/p>\n

Again, the examples of writings of Mahatma Gandhi are noteworthy. These would display an absence of wisdom in the workings of mankind. Almost a century back he had written a small booklet, Hind Swaraj,<\/em>\u00a0about what true civilisation meant to him and how the British colonial masters used brutality in the colonies they captured.\u00a0\u00a0He advocated the concept of truth and nonviolence \u2014 a means that led to independence of India and other countries such as South Africa.<\/p>\n

Gandhi also urged people not to overexploit the resources of our planet. He had stated simply \u2018There is enough for peoples\u2019 needs but not for their greed<\/em>.\u2019 Had his beliefs and writings been followed, we would not be seeing the degradation of our Earth and the consequent environmental pollution, climate change and dislocation of indigenous peoples from their lands in many parts of the world.<\/p>\n

One should also mention the wisdom displayed by some world leaders \u2014 Nelson Mandela, Bishop Tutu in S Africa and\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Martin Luther King Jr In USA, in following Gandhian principles of truth, NV and equality. Vaclav Havel, President of Czechoslovakia, also displayed these qualities.<\/p>\n

We can also refer to several religious\/secular leaders \u2014 Buddha, Moses, Christ, Confucius, Muhammad, Guru Nanak and others who displayed unusual discipline and wisdom to counter the woes that affected large number of peoples in their times.<\/p>\n

In this regard one should also mention the teachings of\u00a0Bhagwad Gita<\/em>. Many scholars and statesmen have written on the essence of this great Indian epic. One of these persons was Mahatma Gandhi who considered its principles as a guiding principle in his life. One simple maxim of Gita<\/em> is:<\/p>\n

\u201cDo your duty without worrying about its rewards…\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Truly, a universal principle of action in today\u2019s complex world driven in many parts of the world by greed and violence. We want learning, knowledge and technology in today\u2019s world. We must also cherish\u00a0Wisdom<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0and struggle for it.<\/p>\n

______________________________________________<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/em>Dr Ravi P Bhatia is a member of the TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a>, an<\/em> educationist, Gandhian scholar and peace researcher. Retired professor, Delhi University. His new book, <\/em>A Garland of Ideas\u2014Gandhian, Religious, Educational, Environmental was published recently in Delhi.<\/em> ravipbhatia@gmail.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Knowledge appears in various forms and of various subjects \u2014 science, social sciences, mathematics, economics, etc. Not only newer forms of knowledge such as AI (Artificial Intelligence) or Robotics are emerging, but the nature and features are constantly increasing. I am using the word features to suggest the extension or details of the concept of knowledge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":68093,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-transcend-members"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}