THE EVOLUTION OF KNOWLEDGE

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Humans, as a species, have had to learn fast and adapt even faster to each other and their environment in an effort to survive, or else, we fade into oblivion. In the early day, centuries and millenia ago, humans learned by direct observation of their environment. A hunting party gets mauled to death by a lion in a certain part of the forest, the rest of the village learns not to venture into that part of the forest. A man eats a leaf in the forest, starts vomiting, and dies. The rest of the village learns not to eat that particular plant because it is poisonous. A single type this out now, I think about just how many people must have died, or at least, gotten injured in various ways and to various degrees for society at the time to develop a significant wealth of knowledge regarding traditional medicine(which herbs work for what). People must've been dropping like flies with all the trial and error going on.

Anyways, this knowledge gathered through instinct and direct information was passed down simply by word of mouth, as there was no discovered medium of storage for knowledge at the time. So a traditional doctor would have to have apprentices that he can teach his art and craft to, otherwise his knowledge dies with him. Fathers would teach their sons and mothers would teach their daughters everything that know about life. This knowledge compounds over time, and after multiple generations, a vast wealth of knowledge has been gathered. However, this system had flaws that humans sought to improve, hence, the invention of writing.

With the invention of heiroglyphics in Egypt and cuneiform by the Mesopotamians around 3200 BC which remains the earliest known storage form of knowledge, knowledge suddenly became a lot more tangible. Archeologists continue to discover remnants of these till this day.

Fast forward a few millenia and almost all the information that has ever been discovered is readily available to us on digital devices that weigh wayyy less than we do. It truly is a miracle.

For you to understand better and appreciate better the miracle before us, consider this, the average citizen of Earth now has more access to knowledge than the most famous and powerful kings, philosophers, and scholars in history ever had access to. That's just plain wild.

The ease with which knowledge can be accessed these days is a bit of a double edged sword. However, I feel obliged to mention the fact that knowledge and learning are at the very foundation of civilization as we know it. Every innovation, every technological advancement, every improvement in creative endeavors has been due to improved and increased knowledge over the years. The very phones that enable you to read this post I am typing are only possible because of the appropriate knowledge. That being said, I do think the increase in knowledge is inherently a good thing, as it can pave the way for potentially more advancements in the future.

However, the ease with which this knowledge can be accessed has also led a lot of people to take it for granted. And that can be a great problem.

What we need to do as a society is to create more awareness and encourage people, especially children, to soak up this knowledge and utilize it positively for the advancement of society.

Thanks for reading my post. See ya.