by Richard Ellis

Created on: November 19, 2009

Is knowledge truly power?

Power, in the sense that one person or nation might hold advantage over another, is most definitely a result of the greater knowledge of the one. A more knowledgeable person might have greater earning power in a given field of endeavor than one with less knowledge in the same field. Greater knowledge or understanding of a subject usually produces greater skill or power to excel. Knowing one's competition is always an advantage.

Children are good examples of knowledge being power. The more knowledge the child obtains, either by training or experience, the more power he or she has over their own physical and mental abilities. Infants learn very quickly that crying gives them power to have their wants and needs taken care of. They are, of course, probably not cognizant of that fact, but they do know how to use the power of crying, never-the-less. As the child gets older and his/her knowledge grows, their power changes and perhaps diminishes somewhat, but they learn to wield what power they may have. Education/experience = knowledge = power.

The nation with the greatest technological knowledge will usually be the more powerful one. This is why nations spy on one another: to gain an advantage over their enemies and keep their enemies from gaining advantage over them; especially politically and militarily. The reason that the "Cold War" remained "cold" was due in part to the gathering of knowledge of each world power's potential strength and destructive ability. In this case neither side felt confident in its power over the other. Fortunately, in this case knowledge produced the power of stalemate.

Of course, we are here speaking of power in the social, economical, political, and military sense. However, even the power in the sense of brute force may not win over knowledge and intelligence. Raw power, undirected by knowledge and intelligence, is just so much wasted energy. And though it may indeed be destructive, it can never gain complete power over intelligence. For instance, take the continued survival of the tiny nation of Israel; their Intelligence Organization supplies the knowledge which they must have to outwit their numerically and physically more powerful enemies. So it is with all nations; knowledge is power. The United States, among other Western Powers, must be constantly gathering knowledge (intelligence) about the threats of terrorism. The nation's defense, and possibly its survival, depend on it. In this case the equation given above might be restated thusly: intelligence (fact gathering) = knowledge of the enemy = power to defend oneself. The old proverb which says: "Hold your friends close, but hold your enemies closer" certainly applies here. Knowledge of your enemies is power.

The prize fighter, the street fighter, the wrestler, and the soldier; the sportsman, the builder, and the doctor, all depend on special knowledge to help them in their particular skills. Superior knowledge leads to superior power. All other forms of power, such as physical, mechanical, or electrical, fall under the power of knowledge- without knowledge we would not know how to use these other forms of power.

Knowledge gives us power in science over our environment, and in medicine over disease and injury. It is an ongoing process; the more we learn, the greater the power we will obtain.

Given the moral and political atmosphere in the world today, and in the past, one would have to say, knowledge truly is power.

Learn more about this author, Richard Ellis.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.