Is Knowledge Necessary?

PJAllen

So, Is knowledge really necessary, in any endeavor -- or is it all just a stumbling block used by the crafty to hinder the "progress" of the well-intentioned?

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When you get 1^st Place in the "Darwin Awards", you're a Winner & a Loser.

John R.

Yes, soem knowledge is necessary. Knowledge is good

While knowledge is good, preconceived ideas can create problems, and sometimes this "knowledge" can get in the way of embracing and understanding new concepts or new paradigms (like potentially the Propeller).

People try and understand the "new" concepts/ideas/products/etc based on the "old", and can sometimes have problems because the two don't really equate. This can especially be difficult when something is "revolutionary".

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John R.

8 + 8 = 10

Gadgetman

A preconceived idea isn't real knowledge, it's a sinkhole for real ideas, and should be subject to intense scrutiny before accepted as a fact.

Ever seen the Discovery Channel programs about Burt Rutan and his SpaceShip One?
(I recorded them on my PC, and should probably burn them onto DVD soon...)
He takes preconceived ideas as a challenge...

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Don't visit my new website...

Steve Joblin

Yes, knowledge is critical... you can't do anything without it... the key is how you leverage knowledge. for example, I may not know how to program, but I am knowledgable about how computers basically work and I am knowledgable about "logical thought", thus I can easily learn how to program. This is the reason we go to school... not to learn the specific materials, but to become knowledgable in "how to learn". Perfect example is when I had to memorize the 50 state capitals... who cares that Bizmark is the capital of North Dakota (I think!)... what I did was learn the knowledge of how to retain facts.

Paul Baker

Knowlege isn't nessesary if you have enough money, but there is no substitute for imagination.

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·1+1=10

steve_b

I'm surprised I had to be the one to say it...."Knowing is half the battle....GI JOOOOEEE!!"

It's not what you know...it's who you know...

I guess it depends on ones goals? If you want to be a successful entraprenuer, you don't need to know your product...you just need to know how to sell it!
So, in that case, knowing your product may help, but not knowing it, certainly wouldn't hinder it (as those shopping channel presentations are scripted!).

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Steve

"Inside each and every one of us is our one, true authentic swing. Something we was born with. Something that's ours and ours alone. Something that can't be learned... something that's got to be remembered."

Mike Cook

Steve you beat me to the punch!

The only thing that is required is enough knowledge to use Google, or any other reference material, pertaining to your quest. And then the desire and motivation to apply it to a particular application.

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LoopyByteloose

Contempt prior to investigation will generally keep you uninformed and self-limited. Chasing to achieve superior knowledge will likely just make you exhausted. Pursue it for personal pleasure and to help integrate your being.

Will someone please define the term knowledge rather than just kick up the dust?

Knowledge, information, symbols. They are related, but really purvey different depths of significance. [noparse][[/noparse]Don't get me started as I have been recently reading an nice little tome about Semiotics and Linguistics.]

Knowledge to me implies a personalized summation of thought and experience. There is a subtle difference between the kind of knowledge used to exploit and the kind of knowledge used to assist others. The dilema is well represented in Adam and Eve's downfall. Ignorant bliss vs. the angst and burden of consciousness.

I think any reasonably greedy individual can make money by merely exploiting all and everything that come their way. But, it seems to be very dreary self-centered life. I am not capable of living that kind of metaphor.

Then there is the individual that enjoys being part of a team and moving others ahead as well as oneself. Validation comes from outside, not merely within. There is far less isolation and I suspect a longer and happier life. Life is a parade.

Regarding Bizmak, N.D. -- There is need to know, nice to know, and garbage information. But, that is just information.

And then we can go very deeply into Peirce's Semiotics and see that it is all about 'becoming, but never really knowing'. In other words, we cannot fully know anything, but that is the adventure of living. We live to chase from one symbol to the next - something like perpetually watching snowflakes grow then melt.

Ah, to search for me is fantasy, but wandering I love.

P.J. , I hope this isn't some kind of personal crisis. It just gets too deep. Sit back and have a latte.

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"When all think alike, no one is thinking very much.' - Walter Lippmann (1889-1974)

······································································ Warm regards,····· G. Herzog [noparse][[/noparse]·黃鶴 ]·in Taiwan

Paul

Yes. Knowlege is simply memory. You remember that you burnt your hand on a stove so you have knowlegde of it. Humans have the ability to learn from others mistakes and/or successes so we dont have a whole population with scarred hands. This is basis of our educational system. They say you can't unlearn something just as you can easily forget something. (beside your keys.) Learning (and therefore knowlege) has to be a repetion of an act or event to "get it throught our thick skulls" as Mum would say. Fear would be another factor in learning. Fear of hot stoves. Fear of Sister Evangiline. The list goes on.
I was going to interject that politicians seem to be the only humans (?) with the ability to not recall events on demand but then I remembered my kids at 8 years old..lol.
Thanks for the interesting Q & A!
--Paul

Jon Williams

This kind of thread is not really what we had in mind when we created our forums. Let's please stay on topics specifically related to Parallax products.

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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax