What is the difference between man and encyclopedia?
Ah! what a foolish question! This question *presupposes* certain similarities between the two. I hope you understand this argument. You look for differences only between those things that fall under the same category. I would not explain this further by citing examples lest I might end up hurting your ego. I trust your intellect. Lets go ahead.
We were looking for the similarities between man and encyclopedia. Is there any? Let's see.
Wikipedia defines an encyclopedia as 'a compendium of knowledge'. Well, I would say it is rather a compendium of information. This is because I consider knowledge to be a layer above the basic layer that consists of information. Roughly saying, the dead data constitute but the foundation of our cognitive super-structure.
A man is much more than just a compendium of raw data. Rather, a man is a man *only* when he has not only information and knowledge but also has what is essentially humanly, a proper understanding of the world, which enables him to take judicious decisions keeping in sight various possible implications of varying degree and scope.*
A man is useful for himself and for others not because of the gigabytes of data he stores in his mind. He is somebody only when he can afford something that Google or wikipedia can not. Can Google appreciate similarities between two seemingly dissimilar things and detect the subtle differences between two apparantly identical things? Can Wikipedia recognize an interesting pattern in descrete data? Can a software sort and arrange data? Can a computer program distinguish between relevant and irrelevant data? No. Never. But man must be able to do it. You can not mix up all the chemicals in a flask to make a medicine. Can you? You must be able to sense the quantitative as well as qualitative 'weight' of various data to come up with something sensible and valuable. All this can be done only by man, not by any robot, not by any software or search engine. Only man can do complex causal analysis, develope theories and design models, based on previous experiences and observations, in order to fortify the mankind from the treacheries of time.
How do we do that? For that we need to climb the stairs and reach the top floor where alive wisdom exists.
Education helps an individual to bring forth (to educe means to bring forth; look at the beauty here - the assumption is that the ultimate knowledge exists within us! where do we look to see the truth?) the hidden knowledge from the deep recesses of his own mind.
How different this is from loading data into a hard disc! Quizzing is nothing but a mechanism that effects uploading of information in a passive mind. It is a mechanical and a de-humanizing process. It is an act done on mind and not by mind! Technically speaking, your processor remains idle while your hard disc is acted upon. Hope I am being understood.
And may I tell you the most dangerous thing? Quizzing seems to be, oh my God!, a form of education!! What could be farther from reality! But no wonder, at surface they resemble so remarkably that sometimes most of us fail to see their very opposite nature. We fail to see how the persuit of quizzing impedes the very process of meaningful education, how it retards the very growth of higher faculties in a man, how it poisons the very spirit of enquiry. We fail to see that it prevents us from reaching at the top floor.
It detains us at the ground floor by its meretricious charms, by offering us petty success and trifle glory, till we lose our will and energy that is required to climb the stairs. Those who fall for it keep picking pebbles at earth. And they keep doing it forever because the pebbles are infinite in number and ever keep growing. Even a million life is not sufficient to complete the job!
It took me very long to realize the deceptive and dubious nature of success. I have seen that sometimes, more often than we suspect, a bigger failure is hidden in a success. I have articulated my feelings in 'the power of congratulations' also. Sometimes, it is not the failure but the success that is lamentable! It is better for some prayers to go unanswered. It is better for some proposals to be rejected. It hurts for a day or an year but it saves from life-long misery.
Well, I do understand the advantages of quizzing. But the law of diminishing returns can hardly be more suitably applicable to anything else. In school, I believe, the importance of data-collection can hardly be overemphasized. In fact, in schools, the very nature of pedagogy supports, and quite understandably, the introduction of a student to the 'general knowledge' of the world around him, which builds the foundation of his thought structure. And quizes provides a platform to the students to test themselves against one-another and pursue their activity.
But the cardinal question is : What do you do with the data?
But after a particular time, it is desirable for him to start climbing up as it is a necessary condition of attaining adulthood. It requires judgement to decide when to stop collecting pebbles in the bag and rush upwards. It is crutial because the heavier the bag, the harder it becomes to climb up. The ground floor has its own gravity.
After this particular time, I dont respect the blind collection of pebbles. For me, it is just a childish infatuation. And taking a pride in this is nothing but hopeless insanity. And guess what sponsers this insanity? Quiz. What else!
Quizzing, after a certain level, becomes a monster, a Frankestein. It turns into a vampire that sucks the blood of its victims to acquire its strength. The poor victim is seen to be cramming his mind with all types of crap - useless nouns and numbers without any sense of purpose - and sometimes stuffs his mind with something as ridiculous as logos of goddamn companies (pray tell me how does that matter anyway?) and the cast of unknown teleserials that had been telecasted somewhere sometime! And they invade your mind with their infantry of information. Hello boss! I will not let even one cell of my brain be wasted by keeping this shit in it. So spare me! And even you must be sane enough to decide what must be outrightly rejected without even giving a second thought.
I am sure my wise reader will find many such instances. Quizzing after intermediate is like a dangerous disease for people with decent academic background (in accordance to the law of diminishing returns). It becomes a pathological passion, an unhealthy obsession that leads to *indiscriminate* acquisition of data, just for the heck of it! After having known the knowables already, but further pressed by its competetive nature, a quiz-bitten man tries to collect more and more information about more and more. What good does that serve? I fail to understand that. It just delays the process of bringing forth the real character of an individual.
Quizzing becomes like an opium that keeps them away from the real issues of life. The footage and glamor given by media makes it even more irresistible. But it must be resisted. It must be shown its place.
A man must resist to be a quizzer who is nothing but a wanna-be encyclopedia an thus an ordained loser; a bonsai; a semi-human with no independent views and opinion, with no taste and understanding, with no education.
I repeat - Data are like raw material. Raw material is used to make something useful. It can not be treated as an end product. It has no value in itself. Only the necessary(that might be used in the formation of an idea) data should be kept in mind. Rest everything should be immediately jettisoned to keep the ship from sinking, to keep us able to climb up to the top floor.
*Given the nature and scope of Quizes, I will keep my arguments, to study the ill-effects of Quizzing, well within the intellectual domain only.
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