Knowledge and Power.
Knowledge is not power.
Knowledge is the complement of power. Knowledge without power is
impotent. Power without knowledge- is
worse. Knowledge and power are different
things, which together can combine to achieve great purpose.
Knowledge serves as a multiplier of power. Applicable knowledge can greatly increase the
effectiveness of power. Conversely, power applied without the proper knowledge
will at best be wastefully and inefficiently used. The effect of the
application of that power will be distorted from and diminished from its
intention. The situation resulting from
such an application of power may even be worse than if that power had never
been applied at all. Even when power badly applied does achieve its
goal, the expense of it applied without proper knowledge will be much greater
than necessary, the result invariably inferior, and the consequential damage due
to those aspects of that power misapplied may be extensive. Power will be wasted, Its sources may be compromised. Its objectives may be irretrievably
lost.
The more demanding the situation, the greater the
constraints, the greater the requirements for knowledge. And the greater the consequences of
ignorance.
Against this, knowledge comes at a cost, and this cost rises
with the increase in the quantity and quality of knowledge acquired, and may
become prohibitive. Situations arise, therefore, where the costs of the
knowledge necessary for the proper application of power, and the costs involved in the actual
application of that power, exceed the ability of the actor to bear. These costs may even exceed the
return on even judiciously applied power.
Knowledge is not to be confused with information. Knowledge
comes with the ability to weigh information, and properly weighed information
contributes to knowledge, and thus, recursively, to the ability to properly weigh
information. Conversely, improperly weighed information may actually detract from knowledge, and, recursively, reduces the ability to properly weigh information, and thus, the ability to acquire knowledge.
As a multiplier of power, proper knowledge of how to apply
power will amplify that power. However,
one of the most important uses of knowledge is to know when to apply power. And when not to.