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Why Bother With Knowledge?

Why Bother With Knowledge?

This past weekend, I attended a workshop that taught me about pelvic health. After the first session, I felt a little ashamed of myself. Though my pelvis is an important and central part of my body, I knew so little about it. But after the workshop, I walked away better informed and equipped to make some simple changes to having better health. 

I appreciated how the instructor began her workshop with a simple yet profound statement, “Knowledge is a powerful tool for change,” she said.  I agree. I’ve never believed that ignorance is bliss, rather I believe that ignorance is instead, a roadblock to change. Knowledge, on the other hand, can eliminate ignorance giving us the ability to make different and better choices for ourselves.  

     What Motivates Learning?

I’ve often been a student and I am a teacher. From my own experience, I’ve narrowed down what motivates me to gain knowledge. First, I learn what I want to know. Secondly, I learn when something I want to know is applicable and thirdly, I learn when I have to know.  

Most of my early childhood education involved learning because I had to. I didn’t especially like school, but I knew it was necessary. In order to make progress and graduate, I had to learn enough to pass the tests. Having to learn, though not the greatest motivator, still motivates. 

At work, I have to learn in order to use new software as well as any new curriculum our district adopts. I’ve grown in knowledge concerning giving standardized tests and understanding data from those tests because I’ve had to. Having to learn is not the number one incentive, but it does spur most of us to grow past complete ignorance. 

So, what made me sign up for and attend the pelvic workshop when I did not have to? What made me want to sit inside on a sunny weekend instead of staying home and reading a book while lounging in my backyard?  I wanted to learn. I wanted to grow in my knowledge of how the very center of my body works because I knew it was applicable to my present health. 

Wanting to learn because I can apply the knowledge to something very practical in my life is, for me, the number one reason for gaining knowledge. But no matter our reason for growing in our knowing, it keeps us from settling for ignorance. 

Why bother with knowledge? “Knowledge is a powerful tool for change,” and gives us the ability to make better choices for our lives. 

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