Studying Disinterested Knowledge is a Holiday

[coberst]

Studying Disinterested Knowledge is a Holiday

 

Studying disinterested knowledge is like taking off a month every year to visit a strange new land. Curiosity is reinvigorated and new meaning is created.

 

Disinterested knowledge is the energy bunny; studying disinterested knowledge creates more energy than it consumes. It generates the energy for exploration and for overcoming some of our inhibitions.

 

Disinterested knowledge is an intrinsic value. Disinterested knowledge is not a means but an end. It is knowledge I seek because I desire to know it. I mean the term 'disinterested knowledge' as similar to 'pure research', as compared to 'applied research'. Pure research seeks to know truth unconnected to any specific application.

 

Knowledge is like a jigsaw puzzle. We have created many puzzles in coping with reality and when we receive a new piece of knowledge that does not fit our present puzzles we forgetaboutit (Italian word for ‘forget about it’). However, if through disinterested knowledge we have created new puzzles within which the new knowledge might fit we might find a whole new meaning in life.

 

After we leave school if we want to become a self-learner and to become knowledgeable of new domains we will follow this same procedure but with a significant difference. We will have no teacher to supply us with the pieces of the puzzle. Especially difficult will be gathering the appropriate side pieces so that we can frame our domain. After this we might very well have to imagine the image of the puzzle because we will not have a teacher to help us ‘see’ what the domain ‘looks like’.

 

When we become a self-learner we will often find pieces of knowledge that do not fit our already constructed frames, when this happens we have two choices. We can throw away the new fragment of knowledge or we can start a journey of discovery in an effort to organize the construction of a new domain. The odd piece of knowledge is either trashed or we must begin a big effort to start construction on a new big puzzle.

 

I think that knowledge is easily acquired when that knowledge fits easily within one’s accepted ideologies. If we have a ready place to put a new fragment of knowledge we can easily find a place to fit it in. When the knowledge does not fit within our already functioning ideas that fact will be discarded unless a great deal of effort is made to find a home for that fragment of knowledge.

 

We are unable to move beyond our ideologies unless we exert great effort. No one can give us that type of knowledge; we must go out of our way to stalk it, wrestle it to the ground and then find other pieces that will complete a frame. That is why our schools do not try to take us beyond our narrow world because it is too costly in time and effort. Our schools prepare us to be good workers and strong consumers, anything beyond that we must capture on our own.

 

No one can give us that kind of knowledge. It can only be presented as an awakening of consciousness and then we can, if we have the energy and curiosity go and capture the knowledge of something totally new and start a new puzzle.

 

Creativity is the synthesis of the known into a model of the unknown. The value of the unknown is yet to be determined. Creativity requires a comfort with the unknown.

[HydrogenBond]

Humans have sort of a herd instinct. The herd will graze in particular pastures. Culture can also create social barbed wire keeping you penned in so you don't stray too far from the pastures provided. Most of the herd will stay in the field and those who explore will hit the barbed wire and stop there. Some will stick their head through the fence to the other side, but the body your knowledge needs to remain with the herd or else you will be considered part of a different herd.

 

Like the cow pasture, there is green grass and cow manure. This waste product is also fertilizer which helps to grow more grass. Cows don't always differentiate, but can often eat both. As you get to the perimeter there is less cow manure because few cows wander there. While outside the barbed wire is pure grass since the body can crap there. There is the problem, this grass doesn't have the proper amount of manure, so it doesn't seen right.

 

By manure it is both waste and fertilizer. It is creative and stimulate growth and thinking but it is also a waste product. It like a short terms guess that of itself has a limit, but its value is in stimulating the mind. Outside the fence the stimulation occurs but it is not due to social manure. It is more of an inner creative process that depends on natural nutrients. An example, is controversy. This is bull crap. Nevertheless, it is fodder.