...The Power of Knowledge Knowledge can be approached in different ways and numerous interpretations are considered. Knowledge can be stimulated through humility or ignorance. I have selected three separate texts that illustrate the connection human aspirations and knowledge has in common and the impact hierarchy rankings have on one’s insight. The literary analysis essay interprets and defines the term “knowledge”. The meaning focuses around learning, instruction, insight, philosophy, and proficiency. The texts that will be used throughout the essay as sources are: Beowulf translated by Michael Swanton, The Wife of Bath’s Tale and the author is Geoffrey Chaucer, and The Tempest which is a product of William Shakespeare. Characters from the chosen texts demonstrate their perception of knowledge and wisdom based on the significance of superficial existence. People’s assumed power and privilege promote certain actions they could partake in when trying to fulfill personal desires. Acts of knowledge can be either appropriate or inappropriate gestures. It is difficult to distinguish right from wrong deeds the overall circumstances has to be examined and the answer lies in the outcome of the decision when wisdom was applied. There is good and evil in everyone, selfless or self-centered choices formulate one’s character and the observed perception others have. The texts educate the reader that karma usually constructs challenges or rewards depending on if your knowledge was practiced...
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...We humans claims to be at the forefront of knowledge, and consider ourselves as having a better understanding of our world and its environs than any other creature. This claim of achievement or superiority may not be totally hollow if we consider the progress we have made as a race so far. But how much of the whole do we really know? How has our knowledge been possible? We recognise our own existence, and that of our environment, with the aid of our senses. Of the five senser we have, two -- those of sight and hearing are the ones that link us with the world around us. It is mainly these two senses, and a brain to control and coordinate them, that enable us to acquire knowlege and understanding about everything. How is it that these senses show such versatility as the vastness of our knowledge and abilities indicate? Are we right in assuming the ability of our senses to the extent we do? Is the knowledge that we have acquired with the help of our senses, reliable and precise? Or is our knowledge misleading? It is difficult to give convincing answers to these questions. It may also be that the answers are not always positive or encouraging. Whatever the answers, they are essentiallyhuman; from the viewpoint of humans and for the sake of humans. As they can change, with viewpoint and logic, the answers cannot be considered absolute or eternal. The reliability of our knowledge is further in doubt, because the period for which we have been existing as a race is negligibly brief...
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...KNOWLEDGE IS POWER After some debating of evolution vs creationism, and after reading some of Jack Herer's book, it just hit me like a ton of bricks, and I thought I'd share this thought with all of you. Knowledge is Power. Yes, most of us have heard that a million times on School House Rock on Saturday mornings, but it means so much more than they could have ever imagined. Knowledge is the ultimate weapon and the ultimate defence. Since the dawn of civilization, the powerful have restricted the Knowledge available to us common folk, and that is precisely how they maintain their power. One of the best examples of this (and because it's currently very fashionable (and fun!) to bash them) is the Catholic Church. Make no mistake, I'm Italian and the Church has always been very important in my family. However, since the very beginning, that is since around 100 A.D., it has consistently withheld Knowledge from its followers. But HOW did it gain so many followers so quickly? By claiming a monopoly on Knowledge right from the outset, by being extremely exclusive, moreso than any other religious cult in recorded history. Think about it: during a time of great crisis (as the 3rd century certainly was for the Roman Empire), a time when barbarians are invading the empire from all angles, a time when the Roman elite seemed incapable of defending their own population, out comes this religion which claims that it and ONLY it has the ability to save people for eternity. It has the ultimate...
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...Knowledge Is Power Grand Canyon University: NRS-430V December 7, 2014 Knowledge Is Power Knowledge is everything in this world. It serves as a source of power. In order to advance in one’s career, one must have the necessary knowledge to excel. Education is needed for self-enhancement. Nurses constantly desire to better themselves. They unceasingly advance in their profession by continuing school, obtaining certificates, and completing new training programs. The nursing profession has grown drastically from what it once was. Although there have been an abundance of change, the basis of why one practices nursing remains constant – the desire to make a difference in a person’s life by providing quality care. Nurses share the same drive and passion, but is that enough? Society and employers have preconceived notions about nurses at the associate-degree level versus the baccalaureate-degree level. They believe one’s level of education plays a significant role in nursing care and decision-making. Are they correct? Unfortunately, education does play a role in what an employer seeks for. It is proven true that health care facilities desire a nurse with a baccalaureate-degree, rather than an associates-degree. Pew Health Professions Commission (1998) states: No matter which type of entry into practice program one chooses, “the demands placed on nursing in the emerging health care system are likely to require a greater proportion of RNs who are prepared beyond the associate degree...
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...Knowledge and Individual Power With the use of the words knowledge and individual power being employed together, there is a definite encouraging position to be seen As the emergent ideas inundated my mind to express my point of view and approaches in reference to these words I consistently discovered myself reverting back to independence, strong self-esteem and acquiescent. During my evaluating and revision of the stories and poems that were assigned and in conjunction with my reviewed analysis of these stories and poems by others, I discovered that a definite subject of the acceptance of others once they were further educated was determined as well. The passages from Lauren Axelrod and my point of view provided a sound transcribed breakdown. Self-empowerment is gained through knowledge. I found myself following the guidance of the author, during my reflection and brainstorming for this essay, and pursued the guidelines on pages eighty nine and ninety. As what needed to be followed in the instructions was stated, some of the wide-ranging generalities and expectations that came to mind while thinking over the words knowledge and individual power are what I penned down. The way toward individual power above one’s individual atmosphere is paved by the possession of knowledge. The ability for you to be a much sounder person and to be able to progress the surroundings for those that are around you. An ideology and the power is instilled in you that you will be confidently encouraged...
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...James Marie Professor Baker English 101 28 February 2012 Knowledge is Power, Power is Success. How successful are you? When looking for a job in today’s world it is known that companies aren’t concerned with whether someone couldn’t attend college because they couldn’t pay for it. They only care about whether a degree is held or not. This is why being part of the lower class has been so difficult for students wanting to continue their education. Preparing for a successful future begins with a quality education. For many students, however, the quality of the available education is dependent on their financial circumstances. In order to ensure that all American citizens are as successful as they can be, access to quality education must be based on effort and commitment, not an individual’s ability to pay for it. Today most people would agree that education is the key to success. It is almost impossible to have a successful career without having an advanced education from a superior school. Businesses and companies depend consequently on what school someone graduated from and what degree they have, that it creates an unfair bias and almost makes it impossible for someone to compete for a job when they could not afford the same education. In today’s economy it is more challenging to acquire a successful career. Businesses have become further meticulous in their hiring processes and are not speculating towards undergraduates to employ. Businesses are looking for applicants...
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...Knowledge is Power The first step to gaining freedom from oppression is to recognize that freedom is being restricted. Some contend that because Freire’s work, The Pedagogy of the Oppressed was written over forty years ago, in a different country with a heightened sense of activism that it does not apply to today’s public education system in America. I disagree. His analysis applies as much today as it did forty years ago, but the reason most do not recognize it is because it works so well. The educational system uses a concept that Freire details in his work, namely the banking concept of education. This method of teaching is “dehumanizing” in that it reduces students to “receptacles” whose only purpose in life is to be filled with information which is chosen by oppressors to be significant (Freire par. 4). Freire paints a picture of lifeless, mechanical, students, filing information into their brains without question or analysis; the very thing that he claims makes us human (par. 4,5). He asserts that this concept of education is oppressive by design. Indeed, it serves the oppressors’ goals in that “the more the oppressed can be led to adapt to (an environment where they question nothing), the more easily they can be dominated” (Freire par. 9). The control over educational subject matter plays a key role in oppression. Loewen's work Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong details this role. Although I agree with the ideas of Freire...
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...during the whole adventure through the African Congo. The topic is knowledge and the great desire of man to reach it since its childhood to adulthood. Conrad uses the main character in his novel the Heart of Darkness, Marlow, as an interpretation of the ignorance of human kind and its desire to find knowledge. Kurt represents the knowledge that human kind so dearly desires but usually is surrounded by darkness. The paper is divided in three different sections. The first section provides an insight of Conrad’s novel and identifies the desire of Marlow to find knowledge through his voyage. The second sections establish the new attitudes and split concepts Conrad uses as turning points of the characters in the novel. The third and final section demonstrates the dilemma that Marlow confronts once it has found the knowledge he was looking for. MARLOW’S CRAVING FOR KNOWLEDGE The HOD describes the great desire of the author for letting its audience know that the knowledge of light is Kurt, the desire of man to look for that knowledge is Marlow and the African Congo and many of the other characters are the darkness that individuals must surpass to find knowledge. One of the striking aspects of the novel is that only Marlow and Kurt are named; the other characters have titles such as, The Director, The Russian, The Lawyer, etc but no names. This is just a way Conrad separates knowledge and the quest for knowledge as a separate topic from other mundane desires such as lust and...
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...Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus: Knowledge is Powerful or Fatal Everyone has heard of the old saying, “knowledge is power” which is true in some cases. There is some knowledge that should not be obtained. This is known as the forbidden knowledge. It is described as books or any other information that is restricted. Christopher Marlowe’s, “Dr. Faustus,” is a prime example of taken forbidden knowledge. There is a reason why this knowledge is forbidden. The consequences of using the knowledge are usually fatal. Nothing good comes out of it. Throughout the drama of “Dr. Faustus,” the main character experiences his rise with the forbidden knowledge but this hero also is lead to a fatal damnation because of the journey he chooses. Faustus plan to learn the power of black magic also known as the forbidden knowledge leads the tragic hero to his path of corruption and soon to be damnation to hell. The decision for Faustus is merely based on Faustus own character flaw of pride. “Considers logic…but notes that disputing well seems to be the only good of logic…considers medicine…he has achieved great renown as a doctor already…considers law…but dismisses law Greenlee 2 as to petty…religion and theology seems to offer wider vistas and finds the Bible’s assertion ‘the reward of sin is death’ and unacceptable doctrine (sparknotes). After dismissing all these studies, he choose magic because he believe that this is a “world of profit and delight/ of power, of honor, and omnipotence...
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...The Power of Knowledge Frederick Douglass addresses in his autobiography the cruelty and the barbarity of slavery The Narrative life of Frederick Douglass and his speech, “The Meaning of the Fourth of July to a Negro.” He emphasizes this by using education as the key to the path of freedom. Knowledge has liberated those who have been oppressed by slavery. Nelson Mandela, a famous civil rights activist and the first South African president, once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.” (Mandela, 1993). Both were subjugated by societies filled with abusive racism. Douglass used education as a weapon to guide him to his independence. Through knowledge, Douglass ascended to be as educated as a white man. By insisting on his credibility, appealing to his readers’ emotions, and making logical arguments against his oppressor, Douglass communicates that literacy is a tool used to overcome the oppression of slavery. This is significant because literacy broadened the perspective of slaves, which enabled them to prevail against inhumane conditions. As a former slave, Douglass emphasizes reliability by talking about his experience as a slave to show how slaveholders would prevent them from knowledge. He realized his life had been molded into an abrupt distorted lie created by the most wicked of men by stating, “My natural elasticity was crushed, my intellect languished, the disposition to read departed, the cheerful spark that lingered about...
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...1219 Ms. J. Chitwood English IV, Period 1 25 March 2014 Consequences of Knowledge and Truth Although the quest for knowledge plays a big role in Sophocles' play "Oedipus Rex,” translated by Dudley Fittz and Robert Fitzgerald, the consequences of wanting to know the truth led to an unforeseen exile. Though Oedipus was very dignified, his pursuit for knowledge and truth resulted in ruin as Oedipus uncovered his destiny, which he was better off not knowing. Because Oedipus was a king of great honor; his power prevented him from acknowledging the words of his own people and accepting the truth. Oedipus, once a man of power and wealth, lost all respect creating ramifications that he later endured. The power of truth became the biggest obstacles for Oedipus' character to accept amongst the vigilant kingdom he was living in. Oedipus' was unwilling to see the truth behind his very own prophecy spoken by his kingdom of people, to whom he should have always been willing to listen. He requested to hear the spoken words of Thebes and summoned them to hear, “Children, I would not have you speak through messengers, and therefore I have come myself to hear you— I, Oedipus, who bear the famous name” (Sophocles 3). Not realizing the slander of the town was about him, Oedipus requested to be told the truth spoken throughout his people. Because of his request to hear the truth, Oedipus’ was hit with the truth of his past. He is dignified enough to be told up front with out having to hear...
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...(1597) stated “knowledge is power”, and probably many people and scholars believed it is true, as we find some scholars such as (Drahos and Braithwaite 2002; Meredith 2007) who wrote many books and articles related to health and nursing and used such statement as a title. The 2012 American Educational Research Association( AERA) Annual Meeting entitled ““Non Satis Scire: To Know Is Not Enough,” addressed how to take what we know from research and put it to effective (policy and practice) use (Ball 2012). Moreover Hovenic et al (2012) believed only knowledge is not enough to be power. They supported their argument by a survey conducted by the American academy of dermatology that showed “32% of white teenage girls and young women had used a tanning bed in the past year, while 81% had tanned outdoors in the past year. These women stated they do so for cosmetic enhancement, although they are well aware of the associated health risks”. (Hovenic et al 2012). The question that arises is, if to know is not enough, then what is enough? Chavez answered that question by (stating in Ball 2012) “the end of all knowledge should surely be service to others”. Chavez's statement is reflected in the definition of wisdom in the Oxford English Dictionary, which defines wisdom as “the ability to make sensible decisions and give good advice because of the experience and knowledge that you have”.(Oxford University Press 2011). Wisdom not just knowing, it is how we use knowledge in servicing and...
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...prison. We should not, however, think that the deployment of this model was due to the explicit decisions of some central controlling agency. In typically genealogical fashion, Foucault's analysis shows how techniques and institutions, developed for different and often quite innocuous purposes, converged to create the modern system of disciplinary power. At the core of Foucault's picture of modern “disciplinary” society are three primary techniques of control: hierarchical observation, normalizing judgment, and the examination. To a great extent, control over people (power) can be achieved merely by observing them. So, for example, the tiered rows of seats in a stadium not only makes it easy for spectators to see but also for guards or security cameras to scan the audience. A perfect system of observation would allow one “guard” to see everything (a situation approximated, as we shall see, in Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon). But since this is not usually possible, there is a need for “relays” of observers, hierarchically ordered, through whom observed data passes from lower to higher levels. A distinctive feature of modern power (disciplinary control) is its concern with what people have not done (nonobservence), with, that is, a person's failure to reach required standards. This concern illustrates...
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...OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY CHAPTER ONE THE THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK: CONCEPTS AND PROBLEMATICS OF THE KNOWLEDGE SOCIETY Introduction This chapter presents a general theoretical framework for the knowledge society, based on four major axes linked by the concerns and issues invoked by the project to create a “knowledge society” as an integral part of a comprehensive programme of Arab renaissance. The first of these axes presents the premises and principles guiding the knowledge society. The second deals with the conceptual structure of the discourses that have attempted to shed light on the changes in modern societies since the information revolution. Here we have constructed an operational definition of the knowledge society in the Arab world, based on the ideas put forward in the Report’s various chapters. The third axis constructs the systems of reference that have guided, and continue to guide, knowledge discourse in the contemporary world and allows us to become acquainted with the dimensions and options underlying earlier reports on the same topic. The fourth axis examines some of the problematic issues posed today by information and knowledge development in contemporary society, believing that reflection on these issues will influence efforts to close knowledge gaps in the Arab world and achieve comprehensive human development. While subsequent chapters of the Report examine the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of the most significant foundations of knowledge, this...
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...Lucas Velenosi Article Synopsis There seems to be an underlying meaning in what modern knowledge entails. Behind a single word, there is an infinite amount of links which represent what knowledge means to each and every one of us; at least according to Brain Martin of 1998’s Freedom Press. Despite Martin’s constant emphasis on the same few factors [money, power] which bring knowledge and people together, he also suggests alternative ways in which people can turn the tides on making knowledge more accessible to the general public. For the most part of Martin’s piece entitled “The Politics of Research”, he elaborates on elements that influence modern knowledge. It turns out that “interest groups affect the creation and use of knowledge, such as through funding, disciplines, hierarchy and competition” (Martin, 1998, p.114). Each aspect holds their own in terms of money and power and each is as equally important as the next. The text goes on to say that knowledge is held in the hands of those who are capable of either buying it, mastering it, earning it or challenging it. Take the military for instance. The military is fueled by governmental money; governments across the globe assume responsibility for their militaries because the citizens themselves wouldn’t be able to organize such a large-scale operation. The same can be said for the field of medicine. Through universities, “students are trained in the standard way of thinking” (Martin, 1998, p.117) however not everyone...
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