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.” It literally states that a person being negligent about something is bad, then the person not willing to learn about what he doesn’t know is a much more delicate case. A person should always be willing to learn what he doesn’t know but if the case is otherwise, it leads to a very bad situation,
Most people in bad situations today ought not to be there, they find themselves in such situations because of their ignorant nature, For example, a person suffering from a headache and does not know what drug to use is supposed to consult a medical practitioner for more knowledge rather he prefers to go direct to a pharmacy and pay for a drug he feels will cure his headache. This is purely a negligent behavior.
A lot of businesses are booming because of the bid to learn more strategies. A businessman does not limit his working experience to just his company. He has to seek more knowledge from other companies in order to boost his working space. A country that is inflicted with a very serious pandemic does not limit its vaccine production within their country, they consult other countries in order to have more knowledge on what to do, precautions to take, and vaccines to be used.
A person with an unwilling ability to learn cannot be corrected. He feels what he is doing is right and considers the need to acquire more knowledge useless. A knowledge-resistant person is vulnerable to falling into bad situations because of his ignorance.
Acquisition can be defined as the process of acquiring more knowledge. Acquisition of knowledge is good and can also be put to use in many areas.
Acquiring knowledge is a lifetime process. The more you grow, the more experiences you have and the more knowledge you gain. A human brain has the capability of learning a lot of things. Some people may find it hard to acquire knowledge, but with more persuasion, they will be willing to acquire knowledge at any given time.
Knowledge acquisition helps in various aspects of life. One of them is in the business sector. A well-educated person has more advantages over others in the business sector. A well-learned business owner knows the strategies needed to be put in place in a bid to ensure the proper booming of his business. For example, a person producing a juice, if well learned, will work on the type of juice to be produced, production processes, time frame, and different types of flavors that can be used to attract consumers. But for an illiterate, all he cares about is just what to produce. He is ignorant of the fact that every business needs a working plan. The acquisition of knowledge goes a long way toward the progress of a business. A business owner without legal documents to certify his business acknowledgment with the government will be restricted to some rules such as the inability to transport his goods to other countries, not being able to sell a large quantity, inability to have branches in different states or countries and restricted access to import goods.
A lot of businesses ought to have grown much more than they are but the inability to gain more knowledge has restricted them to the state they are in. A well-learned person has a lot of business ideas flowing through his head. He doesn’t have to start making findings on how to start or how to grow his business because he already knows what to do, how to do it, and where to start.
Additionally, the acquisition of knowledge helps a lot in ascertaining your rights as a free citizen. The acquisition of knowledge goes a long way a long way in safeguarding your fundamental human rights. A person who doesn’t know his/her rights will be trampled upon by other people who are well informed about their rights. A citizen is supposed to be aware of his fundamental human rights. If citizens know their rights and duties, there will be peace and harmony in the state because every citizen knows what he is entitled to, and what he should do for the growth and development of his state. Thereby promoting good governance and smooth running of the state.
A leader knows what to do to citizens in order not to trample on their rights and also to promote peace and smooth running of the state. With a very large amount of acquisitions of knowledge about rights and obligations, citizens are able to voice out their own opinions about who they want as their leader and what is to be expected from them upon assumption into office. In illustration, if a citizen happens to be a victim of assault from constituted authorities, he has the right to charge them to court and to speak freely without any fear or any form of reproach from the government. If the case turns out to be an abuse of power, without any form of knowledge about his rights, he will just accept what was done to him and move on.
Furthermore, the acquisition of knowledge helps in developing talents. A human mind can process a lot of things at a particular time. In the educational aspect, the main purpose of educating students is for them to acquire knowledge. In this process of imparting knowledge, a lot of information is gained by students. A student while learning is taught how to build his talent. For example, if a gift knows how to sing, she is taught how to perfect it, the pitch to be used when singing a particular song, and how to arrange her words in a lyrical manner for a very melodious song to be produced. In the case of an uneducated girl, she just sings but does not know but does not know what is to be done to produce a very melodious song.
A person does not learn everything in school but he must learn the basic principle about what he wants to do and how to go about it. Every aspect of learning has its own benefit, be it oral, practical, or written skill acquisition. They all have benefits to the person gaining the knowledge.
As much as we would want to look at the good aspects of acquiring knowledge, we should also look at the negative aspects of acquiring knowledge. Acquisition of knowledge can pose a menace if one does not put it to good use.
One of the daunting effects of acquiring knowledge is a lack of well-informed knowledge. A person very eager to acquire knowledge might end up acquiring the wrong information about something. Some illiterate people today are illiterate not because they want to but because of the experiences they have seen people who got the wrong knowledge have gone through. A lot of people are suffering from illnesses and diseases caused by getting the wrong information. For example, a person suffering from Asthma who is asked to sniff cocaine in order to cure Asthma will suffer from a more intense illness because of lack of proper knowledge.
In our bid to gain knowledge, we should be watchful of who, where, and how we gain knowledge to improve our ways of life and standard of living. People who are saddled with the responsibility of imparting knowledge should also be watchful of the type of knowledge they disperse and their resources should be well certified and security guaranteed.
A person with an unwilling ability to learn cannot be corrected. He feels what he is doing is right and considers the need to acquire more knowledge useless. A knowledge-resistant person is vulnerable to falling into bad situations because of his ignorance.
A.G. Project 