The importance of knowledge sharing cannot be ignored. We are taught from an early age that knowledge is power. However, as we grow up, we forget to share the knowledge we acquire along our life’s journey. Maybe we acquire knowledge in order to get a job. If that is the case, then we have a very flawed idea of knowledge. If the only purpose of acquiring knowledge is to get a job, then we are no better than robots – lifeless – whose existence is merely for the purpose of performing a certain task, a mere tool.
As conscious beings, endowed with a sense of reason, our purpose of acquiring knowledge is to benefit the society we live in. We ought to acquire knowledge to make the world a better place to live in. Here, we must understand that knowledge is of value only if we have the ability to do something good with it. The fact that we have knowledge has zero value if we cannot make use of it to make society better. Thus, it is important to share the knowledge we have acquired.
It is very unfortunate that the knowledgeable people among us seldom share the knowledge they have. For instance, the experts in the various agriculture and allied departments seldom share their knowledge in the open public domain to help our farmers and the people in general. Likewise, our medical personnel seldom share their knowledge. How many professors of economics share their knowledge in the public domain on how to improve our economy, for instance? Why don’t our engineers share their knowledge to let people understand how things are built? The list goes on, and the common denominator here remains constant – none seems to be interested in sharing their knowledge. But what could be the reason for that? Why aren’t the people with knowledge sharing their knowledge? Is it because of selfishness? Could it be that their knowledge was only just enough to scrape through a certain exam to get a job and they know of nothing else to share? It could even be that there is no platform for the knowledgeable people to share their knowledge with the people. Whatever be the reason, it is time for us to be more open now.
Unless there is exchange of ideas fueled by sharing of knowledge, we will struggle to forge ahead as a society. We live in a society and we must, therefore, share and put our knowledge to good use for our society’s benefit and growth. Knowledgeable people as individuals may be living comfortable lives but when it comes to the societal level, we must remember that we are all sailing in the same boat. If the boat sinks, we all drown. Instead of saying knowledge is power, maybe it’s time to say knowledge sharing is power.