Of all
virtues that humans have invented by themselves to advance the human race, sharing
of knowledge beats all other virtues hands down, if juxtaposed. It won’t be an
exaggeration to state that while the innocuous concept of knowledge sharing has
for too long been deliberately neglected and undermined by the nefarious of the
lot; but for the generosity and altruism of some noble souls; humans have been
able to continue their march undeterred.
I consider
knowledge a commodity that will never go out of demand. The principle of
demand-supply and vice versa does not hold true when it comes to knowledge
sharing. Sharing of knowledge is more than a prerogative for the knowledge bearer;
it is a moral responsibility that each one of us should undertake to fulfill,
as a tribute to the source of our knowledge. We should look beyond the
mercenary reasons for which some of us might have started to seek knowledge—to
advance our social standing, our careers and to fulfill our selfish desires.
In an attempt to expound the
ever-important-but-hopelessly-abandoned concept of knowledge sharing—through my
anti-myopic thoughts that I have gathered in my lifetime—I have come up with
the following nuggets about the topic at hand. Though my observations might
appear as specks in the vast free-floating sea of information that is available
on literally all topics today, I have tried to bring home the veracity of the
hypothesis that has been stated in the very first line of this article.
Share your knowledge – the more you share, the more you grow
I
have always believed more in the intangible than in the tangible. Knowledge is
one intangible asset that the Almighty has bestowed upon the true seeker and
believer of knowledge. We hurriedly run behind the palpable materialistic gains
all our lives, only to understand the frugality of the purpose in the end. The
virtue of sharing what we have with others does not even cross our minds during
that childish marathon. We need to understand that sharing our knowledge with
others will serve a much larger purpose. It will not only enlighten the
recipients, but will also do a world of good to us. Sharing one’s knowledge
will multiply it manifold, more than our wildest imagination. Sharing will give
our knowledge many dimensions previously unheard of. In the process of sharing
our knowledge, we will end up gathering more in return, making ourselves more
knowledgeable. Knowledge is one of those rare commodities that multiply when
divided.
Share your knowledge – it
perishes if not shared
It is a rule
of nature that we need to put to use what we have; otherwise our assets atrophy.
Keeping our knowledge with ourselves will not add to it. Knowledge was created
for the purpose of being distributed, unhindered and abundantly. We need to
keep on adding to our existing knowledge in order to be relevant in today’s
time. We cannot gain knowledge if someone does not share it with us. It’s the
give-and-take attitude that is required to acquire more knowledge. Merely
wanting more will yield nothing. The process starts with giving first. Give
whatever knowledge you have to the seeker. In this process, your knowledge will
get refreshed and you will be rewarded with more knowledge from others.
Share your knowledge – it makes immortals out of
mortals
We all want to succeed. But Real success comes to those who acquire knowledge to
innovate and then propagate their knowledge to humanity. We have numerous
examples of great people who were common folks when they started on their
journey to seek knowledge to share it with their brethren. Their heartfelt
desires to succeed were granted because the purpose was pure. Imagine a world
without Edison, Newton, Galileo, Darwin, Einstein, and Louis Pasteur, to name a
few. These people have changed the face of humanity through their knowledge.
Had these great souls not propagated the knowledge they acquired, the world
that we call advanced today would not have been even a fraction of what it is.
These people will forever live in the hearts of billions of people of all
generations because they acquired the highest level of knowledge and shared it
with all.
Share your knowledge – remember your teachers
We
have a tendency to err and not acknowledge our errors. We comfortably forget
the teachings of our teachers in pursuit of supposedly greener pastures. We
also tend to forget the real first source of our knowledge. What we actually
forget is the fact that our current cozy lives are all thanks to the knowledge
shared by our teachers during our formative years. When we are young, we lap up
the wisdom provided by our mentors. When it’s our turn to play mentors, some of
us shy away from our responsibilities. All civilizations on our planet believe
in sharing. The noble teacher-student relationship is based on the premise that
what we receive today from our teacher, we share it later with others who seek
it from us. We cannot in any other way repay the debt of our teachers, but by
propagating the light of the knowledge they shared with us.
Share your knowledge – drive away the darkness of
ignorance
Man
is a social animal; or so we learnt at school. The transformation of a creature
from an animal to a civilized social animal is no easy task. In our case,
sharing of knowledge played a pivotal role in this metamorphosis. It has been a
long journey for humanity to come out of the dark abyss of ignorance. Thanks to
the efforts of some great human beings, we call ourselves civilized. But the
work is not completely over. Even today, we come across individuals who are
ignorant about the basic principles and tenets of life on which the pillar of
our existence stands, among many other things. All of us should vow to know
more, share more, and change the lives of the ignorant. Together we can share a
whole lot of knowledge, which can make an enormous impact.
The
light of knowledge, if shared generously, turns supposedly opaque minds into
transparent ones, paving the way toward brilliance. Knowledge is known to
transcend all boundaries, natural and man-made. Let us borrow this reputation,
live up to it, and vow to make a real difference!