Facts and Knowledge

Facts and Knowledge                 

By John W. Vander Velden

Facts and knowledge are not the same things.  Facts are like the stacks of brick on a building site.  They are an important material for the project at hand.  Knowledge is like the finished structure, made up of the bricks properly arranged, bound together by mortar. 

There is a skill set needed to turn the brick into the building.  The man that has those skills is the mason.  It takes a skill set that turns accumulated bits of information into usable knowledge.  Not everyone has gained that particular set of talents.  You see it is not enough to regurgitate things we have been taught.  It is not enough to go constantly seeking new facts to memorize.  To fill our heads with data but not with the ability to turn those facts and figures into…something.

Years have taught me a great deal.  My head is filled with facts innumerable.  But I have also learned how to sift through all those bits, and where to search for the truths to add to what I know, and gathering and assembling those pieces I need, put together the package that might get the job done.  It was a hard learned skill that even at my age I have not perfected.

Knowledge is more than facts, it requires seeing things from other sides.  Using my own eyes to see how the facts fit, or how they do not.  It comes from using patience, open mindedness, even compassion to be the mortar that binds together the sharp edged facts into a beneficial product that helps me and those around me.  I understand that knowledge is not something to be hoarded.  It is not something I might greedily keep for myself.  True knowledge makes the world better.

There are those that demand the memorization of facts.  Those that believe that facts themselves are the end of all.  “Follow the facts and rules carved in stone,” they say, “and everything will work out.”  But it generates an existence without thought, for thinking is not required to follow a memorized list.  They do us an injustice, by closing our mind.  They live by facts and facts alone and expect everyone to do the same.  They point their fingers and condemn any that have forgotten one of the rules while bragging in their own ability to remember.   

But wisdom comes from knowledge.  And knowledge come from the conscious assembly of truth.  It comes by asking the right questions.  For truth never fears questions, and questions cannot change what is true.  So for us, that wish to add a bit to the world that surrounds us, we take the things we know built upon the facts we trust, ask the questions that clarify, and teach those willing to learn the things that make up the hard won knowledge we have acquired.  But perhaps the most important lesson we have to offer is that facts and knowledge are not the same thing….

(490 Words) 12-19-2017