Neytiri takes Jake to meet the Na’vi Clan. Though they trust the judgment of the blue-skinned princess, the queen still questions Jake’s intentions.
“Why have you come to us?” Asked the Na’vi queen.
“I come to learn,” answers Jake
“We have tried to teach other sky people, it is hard to fill a cup that is already full,” the bony queen counters.
“But my cup is empty, trust me. I’m not a scientist.”
Jake anchors his defense on his lack of preconceived stereotpyes
As I tried to reason why Jake chose to deride scientists as unteachable, I discovered what disadvantage knowledge can be when overemphasized. Men can acquire knowledge, but not wisdom. Some of the greatest fools ever known were learned men. Real knowledge surfaces in the process of questioning convention and not hesitating to unlearn orthodox ways of doing things.
French Physiologist, Claude Bernard said, “It is what we think we know already that often prevents us from learning.” In the actual sense of it, it is impossible to begin to learn that which one thinks one already knows. Hence true quest for knowledge begins with acknowledgement of the fact that “we don’t know one-millionth of one percent about anything” according to Thomas Edison.
When shall we begin to question traditions and conventions that have kept us under invisible chains of ignorance?
Quite often I run into conceited people who lift their shoulders over half knowledge. It hurts even more when I realize that there are one or two things they could learn, but their bloated ego would not let them listen. It is disastrous not to have space in your head because knowledge fills a large and spacious brain while it merely inflates a small and packed one. Free up some space in your head and let something useful come in!
Even if it’s about something everybody thinks you’re good at; true aficionado is both enthusiastic and knowledgeable about something. But I would place a higher premium on his enthusiasm over his knowledge because that is what drives him to learn more, know more, and remain relevant.
Confucius might sound confusing, but he was right; to know is to know that you know nothing. That is the meaning of true knowledge.
Click here to see The 5th Review Lesson from the movie -AVATAR –as it teaches you to focus.
