Applied Power
“Knowledge isn’t power until it is applied.”
–Dale Carnegie
The old adage “Knowledge is power,” is incorrect. Knowledge itself is useless if you do not know how to use it to your advantage. Scientists seek knowledge and understanding of the material world. As an engineer, I am an applied scientist. I take these discovered scientific principles and apply them to real world situations in order to create things that empower people to do different things. It is this proper application of information that creates the power.
Thanks to Einstein, most people know that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. However, almost nobody in general knows how to meaningfully apply that knowledge. Here where I work, we take that fact an apply it to create electrical power from the decay of Uranium. Only when properly applied does knowledge actually become power. It is also this same knowledge that can be applied to create weapons of unbelievable power and destruction.
Knowledge alone by itself is useless and impotent. In fact, knowledge can be worse than useless, it can become a trap. The quest for knowledge can be addictive. We can get stuck seeking more and more information and all the while never learning to do anything useful with what we have already discovered. You can see this a to certain degree in the condition described as analysis paralysis; this is where a person never makes a decision and acts on it because they feel they do not yet have enough information to decide properly. The fear of what they do not know pushes them to know more and evermore. This thirst for more knowledge can blind us to the truth that we need to act on what we already know. It reminds me of the biblical text in 2 Timothy 3:7 that speaks to our tendency towards such foolish behaviour: "(They will be) always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth."
It should be noted that not all knowledge is truth nor can it all be used in a beneficial manner. For example, you may learn of gruesome and terrible details about a person’s death but that knowledge might serve to do nothing more than give you horrific nightmares. Meanwhile, other knowledge may be false or at best only true under specific circumstances. Wrong knowledge applied unwisely has disastrous results, as history has repeatedly shown us in our many foolish crusades and persecutions or people that were feared or reviled.
It is our job as individuals to look at what we know to be true and to act wisely and correctly on that. Chasing after more information while ignoring what we already know is foolhardy. If we do not apply what we know right now to be true then the knowledge of that truth stands only to condemn us. Knowing that we need to eat well and remain active in order to become and stay healthy is of little value if we do not consequently choose to apply that fact to our lives. If we do not wish to live in guilt about this information then we need to find creative ways that work for us in our diets and our lifestyles.
Clearly, it is not knowledge itself that brings power. Knowledge brings the potential for power through applied action towards a worthy goal. We must be careful of the trap of knowledge. If we are not constructively applying what we already know then further learning just adds to the list of things that we are failing to do. We should not fear the unknown but instead seek new and creative ways to apply what we already know towards our desired objectives. We need to ask and confirm that the knowledge we have is actually positive and true. If it is then we should vigorously act on it and apply it to our benefit so that we set ourselves free.
©2018 Scott D. Wilson, P.Eng.
