There is a proverb “Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse.”
What is your interpretation of this quote? Can the acquisition of knowledge be good or bad?
This essay response was written in a supervised examination hall with a time limit of 90 minutes
The proverb “Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse,” is a strong proverb that enlightens and opens the mind of anyone who stumbles upon it. My interpretation of this proverb is this part of the proverb, “Not to know is bad,” simply means that not knowing things, especially important things is bad. It tells us that not knowing things is a huge disadvantage and can affect our lives in a negative way. The second part of the proverb, “not to wish to know is worse,” makes us understand that not to know is bad, but not having the fervor to know is worse. “Not to know is worse,” simply tells us that if we tend to continue the attitude of not wanting to know, not having the urge, and not wanting to push ourselves beyond our limit to know, that means we are slowly heading towards destruction.
Not everyone in our world today thinks knowledge is good. Some think that the more knowledge we acquire, the more the world heads to destruction. I on the other hand, strongly oppose that kind of mindset. I believe the acquisition of knowledge is good and it has helped far beyond human imagination. When it comes to knowledge, there are two main things, the good and the bad. Yes, knowledge can have a great impact on the good and the bad but still, they both have their benefits. We are in the 21st century and the development of the world has been more than we could even imagine. Why? Because of knowledge. The development of gas, smartphones, smart TVs, and many more devices has left us wanting more. If we go back to the time of cavemen, there were no such things as phones, plasma TV,s or even lights. They used stones to make fire and hunted for food. Now we have electric cookers, lighters, and many other important items because of knowledge. Mankind was like any other animal but when we started to study ourselves and the environment at large, everyone can testify that knowledge has had a very good impact on our lives. The bad side on the other hand is knowing bad things, but the bad things that we know can help us differentiate between good and bad.
Some people might still think that all I’ve just said is wrong and still doesn’t prove that the acquisition of knowledge is good, but has anybody even taken the time to listen to me carefully and try to understand what I’m trying to say? If not, this is due to a lack of knowledge. Let’s take astronomy as a key example, if not for knowledge would we have ever known that there are planets outside our solar system that can possibly sustain life? Or how interstellar space saves the human race from multiple asteroid attacks? How about agriculture, the knowledge of science and technology has helped in building so many machines and agricultural practices which have made planting and harvesting easier and faster. The knowledge of physics has taught us the mechanics of our daily activities that occur every day but we probably didn’t pay attention to, such as friction and gravity. Biology has not only taught us about human life but also about plants and animals. Knowledge has also helped us through mathematics like statistics. All these and many more and the beneficial effects of knowledge.
Then again, knowledge is not only based on science and technology. As kids, we have those who are older than we are. They have experienced things that we haven’t and have made some mistakes and achievements that we ought to learn from. Our elders also have to impact more knowledge on us and differentiate between right from wrong. Our lives have been made better due to the fervor of wanting to know more. Knowledge is the key. “Not to know is bad, not wanting to know is worse.” Let us have interest in knowledge because with knowledge we can achieve unspeakable and unimaginable things. Our world is changing, let us all have an urge to know more, let us make new discoveries, let us learn about our world, and I believe that we can make the world a better place.
Let us have interest in knowledge because with knowledge we can achieve unspeakable and unimaginable things. Our world is changing, let us all have an urge to know more, let us make new discoveries, let us learn about our world, and I believe that we can make the world a better place.
A.G. Project 