The Importance of Knowledge for All

Our world is getting more and more complex every day and we need people with knowledge to tackle this complexity and help us solve problems.  Progress is inevitable and educating the young generations is essential in meeting the needs for this progress to continue improving our lives.  We now have the amazing internet with unimaginable power to increase our knowledge and at the same time to destroy us.  We need creative knowledgeable people to deal with cyber security and complex economies.  We need clever specialists to help with curing diseases and understanding behavior.

In the past most exceptional minds came from families with privileged means.  But nevertheless there were those young curious minds from very poor families that did manage to learn to read, get access to books and make their way to meet the right people and come up with great discoveries.

It is most important that every child around the world has access to knowledge and proper education.  Nobody knows when and where the most brilliant mind will appear.  Those rare brilliant minds may have the ability to solve problems that seem unsurmountable to many of us.

I have to stress here that progress is necessary to make sure the earth can sustain us all in peaceful productive life.  And we should all agree on this.  History shows us that sometimes people believe that “ignorance is bliss”.  Many rulers and autocrats denied people access to books and any kind of knowledge.  How often did governments burn books or ban them?  It was easier to control ignorant people I assume.

I came across a study by the National Science Foundation (NSF).  Questioning 2200 people they found that: 1 in 4 Americans Don't Know Earth Orbits the Sun. Yes, Really, in the United States.  Can you believe people are certain that the sun orbits the earth?

 

http://news.discovery.com/space/astronomy/1-in-4-americans-dont-know-earth-orbits-the-sun-yes-really-140214.htm

You can imagine the level of knowledge of the simple fact that the earth orbits the sun around the world in less developed countries.  There are places where there is no mandatory education.  Places where girls are not allowed to go to school.  I am with Malala: The pen is mightier than the sword.

I am optimistic about the power of the internet in bringing basic knowledge to masses of young children.  There are already programs like Kahn Academy with lesson plans in many basic areas as well as advanced topics.

https://www.khanacademy.org/

Here is the opening statement from a the learning site:

https://blog.udemy.com/importance-of-knowledge/

You’ve probably heard the old quote, “Knowledge is Power,” That’s truer than you can ever imagine. Few people understand how important knowledge can be. Knowledge is what allows us to drive cars instead of ride horses, it is what helps us survive far longer than we should, and knowledge is even what prevents us from making the same mistakes we made in the past.

Lets obliterate ignorance!