This is an age of intense curiosity and of
knowledge—an age with various advantages but with more disadvantages. The rate
at which knowledge is sought for and gained, which has become a predominant
feature of this age, brings us to the conclusion that increasing curiosity is a
key feature of civilization. This is historically true: when we consider the
level of knowledge that existed in about 2500 B.C when the Egyptians were
building pyramids, and the level of advancements obtained today
Today, too many people just
know too many things; and it is as if everybody wants to know everything. Even
the little child wants to know as many things as he can. No knowledge is any
longer sacred. What was previously true is now declared orthodox and new truths
have emerged. The “traditional” models are now condemned both in the
scientific, philosophical, and religious sphere. It seems, also, that it has
become a duty for men of this age to look for means to flaw all existing paradigms of truth, and to
create new standards, or, in most cases, no standards. The human being, deciding
to learn everything, has now made everything his teacher.
Today, there are thousands
of Aristotles and millions of Albert Einsteins. There just seem to be too many stars. The very
idea of being a star has therefore lost its original value. People each day
want to dig into deeper truths, to know what caused what, and to predict what
shall happen to what. Mysticism, spiritualism, quantum knowledge, is on the
rise. The universe is no longer as big, and life is no longer as sacred as it
used to be, because man thinks that
he has finally arrived at the central truth about everything. This is an age
when seminars, schools, books, and conferences of all forms abound. Inspirations
run to and fro, and each hour, new books emerge to meet the demand of avid
readers.
The internet has served both as a bane and as
a blessing in the realm of knowledge. Anybody can know almost anything just by
the click of a button. As such, knowledge becomes cheaper as each day unfolds. The
little stress which previously accompanied the acquisition of knowledge is
eradicated to a great extent, and scholarly studies and research have become
like a child’s play.
Knowledge id good, and so should its age, but
our knowledge heads rather towards the wrong direction. It is clear that the “knowledge”
of the Age of knowledge is largely
the self-centered kind of knowledge, which aims at making us better, making us
richer and more knowledgeable. Knowledge has therefore increased because of the
increasing desire to pursue power, fame, recognition and wellbeing. Due to the
egoistic competition in the realm of knowledge, it becomes rare for people to
openly accept that they don’t know. As such, there are many people who will
never know that they really don’t know.
Not so many people are
interested in the knowledge of God, the creator; compared to the great number
of people who are sacrificially ready to know about the mechanics of the world
He created. People want to know science more than they are willing to know the
giver of science—God. The want of knowledge has blinded our hearts from the
lovelier and loftier things of life. Where knowledge increases at the expense
of good virtues, disaster becomes imminent.
