Immanuel Kant, in his writing on "What is Enlightenment?", uses the very crucial phrase "Sapere aude![Dare to Know]" that so expertly identifies one of the deep struggles of the enlightenment era. Portraying the seeking of knowledge as a dare reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave. The prisoner who finally leaves the cave and observes the outside world becomes overwhelmed by the beauty of the water, landscapes, and water. Immediately he is burdened to share this knowledge with the other prisoners. I can put myself in the place of the prisoner who was freed from the darkness of the cave, and simply imagine him begging, pleading, and especially daring the other prisoners to follow him into the unknown. The quest for knowledge can be very similar. It has moments where things are scary and do not make sense, leaving us in a state of anxiety and fear. But it is only when we face and seek after the truth that we come to be comfortable in either understanding the truth or simply understanding that it exists.
Putting the work and effort into grasping truth has become an unpopular discipline in society. We live in a world full of search engines capable of retrieving millions of articles and results at the press of a button. What use is there to learn anything when we can simply look it up? Wouldn't it be a waste of time to spend hours each day trying to memorize scripture when you can just google Romans 8, John 3, Leviticus 10, Genesis 3, or Psalm 56? The truth is that summaries and searches do not compare in the experience given by searching for the truth yourself. When we take the time to understand something for ourselves we will not only remember it, but reflect upon it and make connections with other existing knowledge. Reading page after page of Gilgamesh chopping down nearly 40 logs to make a raft cannot be expressed in the same intensity as a one sentence summary. Seriously go and read about how many trees Gilgamesh chopped down, it's insane. The dare to know also reminds me just how easy it is to be complacent with ourselves. We must constantly be seeking to learn while here at UM and Honors to the extent that we praise and thank God all the more while teaching others about Him.
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Moriah's posts.
Putting the work and effort into grasping truth has become an unpopular discipline in society. We live in a world full of search engines capable of retrieving millions of articles and results at the press of a button. What use is there to learn anything when we can simply look it up? Wouldn't it be a waste of time to spend hours each day trying to memorize scripture when you can just google Romans 8, John 3, Leviticus 10, Genesis 3, or Psalm 56? The truth is that summaries and searches do not compare in the experience given by searching for the truth yourself. When we take the time to understand something for ourselves we will not only remember it, but reflect upon it and make connections with other existing knowledge. Reading page after page of Gilgamesh chopping down nearly 40 logs to make a raft cannot be expressed in the same intensity as a one sentence summary. Seriously go and read about how many trees Gilgamesh chopped down, it's insane. The dare to know also reminds me just how easy it is to be complacent with ourselves. We must constantly be seeking to learn while here at UM and Honors to the extent that we praise and thank God all the more while teaching others about Him.
P.S. I commented on Eliza and Moriah's posts.
Comments
When you were describing the one freed prisoner pleading with his cellmates to follow him; I was vividly reminded of Christians leading non-believers to Christ! We know how amazing freedom is and how wonderful our world becomes when we accept Jesus as our Lord, but others can often be frightened and scared at the idea of having their lives change so suddenly and drastically! It can be a struggle overcoming fear in order to accept something new. But in the end, the active search of knowledge is so critical, not just because we grow mentally, but also because we can more easily discern the truth and properly compile a more all-encompassing worldview.