When anyone knowingly chooses the path of ignorance, then knowledge becomes shackles to them. I am afraid to say that a similar kind of ideology is being nurtured in society and criticising the knowledge seekers and intellectuals. This is not new, it has been in society for long, but right now these ideologies are taking an ugly shape.
Continuous demeaning and attacks on institutions and intellectuals is not meant only to harm them. This whole game is knitted to destroy the image of the entire education system and to produce unaware citizens who are unable to think on social, political and economic issues of a country. It is a lot easier for a government to dictate the ignorant and uneducated subjects of the country.
Ignoring the significance of higher studies and questioning the credibility of great institutions is taking us away from consciousness. Knowledge is not something which comes from birth; neither can it be acquired in one day. Knowledge comes to those who aspire and thrive to attain it. It comes along with wisdom. We have to understand that knowledge-seeking is a gradual and eternal process.
In today’s world where abundant sources of knowledge are available like the internet where all kinds of information can be found, some are genuine, but some are fake, even a well-educated and aware person can fall into the trap. Fake news is flowing like wind and spreading hatred and hate in society.
Public policies are built and thrive only on the ideology of the public. Sadly, perpetual undignified comments on education and scholars are now a part of the ideology and it is the first step towards ignorance which can foster only puppets.
Debate and discussion are the progressive sign of any society, but in the present situation, the so-called debates are nothing more than blabbering without any conclusion. The arguments are devoid of facts and truth, and the worst side is that people are consuming this junk.
We live in an atmosphere of fake news and it is flooding us, twisting facts, spreading rumours and manufacturing history. There are designated groups for fake news. Every minute this false information is flowing on the internet through different media platforms. But why is this happening? Why are we unaware of the truth? Why can we not differentiate between fake and real information? Why can we not contemplate the current scenario?
We don’t know about the weapon required to fight fake news. We should know the difference between knowledge and information. Knowledge gives you wisdom and makes you qualified to check the authenticity of the information. Reading books, articles and other resources of knowledge help in personality building and modify the perspective to observe the situation in a rational way. It assembles the brain to think so we can extract the truth from falsehood.
Today, we need the wisdom to segregate the truth and that will come only through knowledge. Unfortunately, knowledge can only come to those who aspire for it. Reading or writing is not a futile exercise; it is a path towards the attainment of consciousness where the truth stands out clear from the error.
Believing that knowledge is a God-given gift and it is in human nature since the time of birth is a doctrine of the past. We can hear long arguments on the “uselessness of reading books”, “reading something which cannot be memorised is futile and a waste of time”, etc. This is a regressive kind of thinking and will not help cultivate the educated future generation.