Each one of us has grown up with those few and select people that are considered to be highly intelligent, and that seem to know an awful lot about an awful lot of things. Yet, despite their apparent brilliance, not all of these super-bright individuals actually end up having successful or purposeful lives. The reason that this is so, is because it is in the application of our actual knowledge that is thus determined as to whether or not what we know, is actually something that has brought beneficence to others or whether it has actually brought harm, instead. That is to say, just because someone is very knowledgeable, isn’t in and of itself, necessarily a good thing, for there are plenty of “evil geniuses” in this world.
For most of us, we are at best, going to be fairly knowledgeable, but obviously aren’t going to know everything that there is to know, because there simply is too much to know. That shouldn’t though pose a real problem for us, because we aren’t expected to know about everything, but rather we are expected to take our knowledge that we have acquired and our good learning, and thus do something of value with it. Additionally, it is our responsibility, once we graduate from school and thus finish our formal studies, to be alert enough and interested enough to continue our education on our own, because those that don’t, surely miss out on a valid opportunity to learn about things which will not only keep a given individual current and up-to-date, but also to take in knowledge which is of worth to them.
So too, there are those certain people that have exceedingly good “book knowledge” but if all a given person has is book knowledge which remains unapplied, then that knowledge is only of minimum value, for the true purpose of knowledge is to do something of merit with it, as opposed to simply to know things, but not to apply such. Each of us is expected to do the best that we can with our talents, and those that insist upon burying or ignoring their talents, have done so to their own diminishment. It is in the application of knowledge, so done for the betterment of society, that we prove the worth of having obtained that knowledge.
In life, some of us are fortunate enough to have valued mentors, or good parents, or great teachers, and some of us, not so much. Yet, for those that lack good exemplars to follow or to imitate, they still have the opportunity to pick up a book and to acquire knowledge by learning well what is inside of that book. It is thereby truly up to each one of us, to make the effort to learn and to acquire knowledge, while also being discerning in what we concentrate our efforts upon, for not everything that we end up knowing, is actually of value. Then, it is our responsibility, to take what we know which is of value, and to utilize that knowledge in order to help make this a better world for our good participation in it.