Knowledge is a Product of Desire
“Mom, I really like knowing things, but I hate the process of learning them.
” This comment, made to my mom while begrudgingly making my way to school, got me only a laugh in return. However, this statement, thoughtlessly tossed out of my tired mind, got me thinking. Knowledge is something everyone wants to possess, but what makes some people so knowledgeable about math while others can recite specific dates from history? The answer I finally came to rest on was simple, desire. To put it in basic terms, I believe that knowledge comes less from the ability to learn something than from the desire to learn something. For example, someone could be a genius at writing stories, but if they never have any motivation to go out and learn how to write properly then they’ll never be able to live up to that genius potential. Even if they had the opportunity to learn, such as an easily available English or creative writing class at school, they would need to have some interest or motivating factor that pushes them to pay attention and continue practicing the things they were taught for them to ever retain that knowledge and put it to use.
Once they start learning, they may or may not actually be a genius at it, but if they never start learning, they’ll never know. This philosophy is also, in a way, used with jobs and college majors. People pick their majors in college base on the kind of job they want, but if they have no interest in the material of what they are being taught, then they aren’t going to learn much. This means that they won’t be very successful later on if life unless they change their major to something that does interest them. This way they can go on to find a job that they are really passionate about. When someone has hobbies and searches for jobs based on their intellectual interests then they’ll be more prosperous and know more about their job or hobby if they are like it enough to want to learn more about it.
Essentially, the people with the most knowledge are, most often, the ones with the most passion for learning. When something catches someone’s interest, that person is more likely to go out and obtain more information about that subject. Therefore, intelligence as many people see it is more about an individual’s desire to learn then their natural ability to understand information. Once the individual has found a matter that catches their interest and inspires them to learn more about it, that is when the individual truly begins to acquire and possess knowledge.
