Why is knowledge important?
Why is knowledge important? Because without knowledge we remain content with ourselves and we would, therefore, stagnate. According to the accepted Theory of Evolution, the long evolution of life required creatures to adapt to the environment. As humans we would not have been here had our human ancestors not adapted to the difficult life they faced. From the cave-man to today’s civilization, survival remains a challenge. In a simple phrase, we stand on the shoulders of giants: philosophers and scientists who not only pioneered methods of understanding, learning, and discovery but also invented new products that made our lives easier. Humans have larger brains than other creatures. The larynges in humans allow them to utter words - they are able to speak in languages which are a symbolic way of expressing themselves, their experiences and their thoughts. Since humans have memory they are able to remember and record their experiences. Thinking in abstract developed in mathematics. Reflecting on human experience developed in arts. Archeologists found artistic paintings in the caves of Lascaux in France dated 18,000 years ago.
Deeper Knowledge?
But with all the above developments in knowledge, we still miss the most important knowledge: Knowledge of the Other. Knowledge becomes a relationship that requires two persons or more to share it. It then becomes deeper in feelings of wonder, passion, and achievement. Yet it still gets deeper in collaboration for survival together. Notice the word: together. The human race becomes a multitude not only by reproduction as in other animals but also in making tribes and nations.
Here is very briefly what I think based on my studies. This is only my opinion and needs to be ratified by the Catholic Church for its truth:
God worked throughout history in his creation to bring them closer to him. The story of Adam and Eve sheds light on the fruitful work of God. He who did not need anyone freely created the universe and life so that his love may be manifested and at last his own image his Son, the Second Adam, may save man and bring creation to his Father and offer it in his act of selfless love. "Adam knew Eve" did not mean that he knew her name or her feelings or even had sex with her but it meant that he knew her in the way she is - in her depth. Flesh from his flesh and blood from his blood. Blood is the symbol of life. He loved her as she is and this is why they begot their children in their conjugal act - Life from life and love from love. This is the fruitful work of God. This was the first Covenant, a covenant between Adam and Eve blessed by God. Knowledge is not only a mental act. It is deeper. It points to the relationship in which everyone gives himself to the other. And when we give ourselves to God, we mean, like Christ, to love God with all our hearts and minds and strength, literally to give him all we are - Not only all we have but all we ARE even as we die. For without death there is no life. And the life Christ gave us is the eternal life in the Trinity - God. We need to imitate Christ in his love, not only of his own people the Jews, but of strangers too - Samaritans and Gentiles in the land of Canaan, and not only of strangers but also of his enemies. He forgave both Jews who shouted “Crucify him” and Gentiles who executed Pilate’s orders even when they conspired to kill him on the cross. His enormous sufferings of being abandoned and his enormous sufferings of physically being tortured, flogged, crowned with thorns, crucified, and shot with a spear in the heart while his mother was watching him are the sufferings of God himself who would not accept less than death for the life of humankind. To know God is to know Christ, who is God in the flesh, among us. And to know Christ is to love him as he loved us.
An Introduction?
The story of the development of knowledge is much more interesting than what you see here. In a few months you should be able to purchase my book “An Introduction to the Development of Knowledge” from Amazon.com and many other bookstores in Canada and the U.S. In the book, I build on the findings in physics from subatomic particles to huge galaxies in the universe, and the latest in quantum physics. Of more interest you will read in the book about the development and research in information systems, artificial intelligence, economics, anthropology, neuroscience and psychology. But more to the point you will find some fascinating works in man’s search for God since the beginning of civilizations, God’s self revelation to man and man’s response to God throughout history. Lastly, the development of knowledge is a fascinating story for it is your story and mine - the story of God’s love unfolding in the lives of creation.
The story of God’s love for man culminates in Christ with whom we are “entangled” for it is impossible after we indeed know him that we could not be in love with him.
