Knowledge is fact, information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.
Why do we think knowledge is good? Because it gives us something to think about. We all hear this, “the more you know, the more you learn”. We live in the age of knowledge where it has become the main engine of our productivity. Knowledge teaches people to improve the world, and to state their facts and discoveries, but some people believe that accumulating knowledge can make a person even more ignorant and close-minded.
From a positive perspective, a person who gathers knowledge becomes more aware of other people’s perspectives, thus being more open-minded, or so it should be. But, sometimes being knowledgeable leads to a negative result, where a person thinks that he is always right and that there is no doubt in his or her opinion. In addition, they think that other peoples’ opinions are not even an option.
For example, have you ever been able to convince your university professor about a certain point he was against?
So, people who feel they are knowledgeable might be less likely to think that other people might have something undeniable to share. Therefore, an expert can be more close-minded and less creative in thinking, since they are not open to new ideas or different viewpoints.
A feeling of expertise can lead us to be more arrogant and opinionated towards new ideas, according to a new study from Loyola University of Chicago. For example, if an individual is told that they performed really well on a test of their political knowledge they temporarily become more dogmatic in their approach to politics, according to Professor Victor Otatti from Loyola University of Chicago. Interestingly, another experiment that was part of the study showed that people also tend to accept dogmatism in those they believe to be experts.
The outcome here is often overlooked - part of accumulating knowledge is keeping in mind the fact that how little you know. so it is probably not the best idea to reject someone else’s perspective as wrong. Give and take - there is a lot to learn from others.
The writer is a media student with the Sharjah Higher College of Technology.
The International Government Communication Forum (IGCF), held in Sharjah, is an annual forum that shares global best practices in fields of government communication and aims to build a platform for better communication between governments and their citizens. This column is a collaborative effort with Gulf News featuring work by UAE-based students as part of that initiative.
