Knowledge is only potential power. Knowledge is power only when put to use-and then only when the use made of it is constructive. The story is told that the greatest scientist Einstein was once asked how many feet are in a mile. Einstein's reply was, "I don't know. Why should I fill my brain with facts I can find in two minutes in any standard reference book?"
Einstein taught us a big lesson. He felt it was more important to use your mind to think than to use it as a warehouse of facts.
One time Henry Ford was involved in a libel suit with the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune had called Ford an ignoramus, and Ford, a man of great respect said in effect, "Prove it."
The Tribune asked him scores of simple questions such as "Who was Benedict Arnold?" "When was the Revolutionary War fought?" and others, most of which Ford, who had little formal education, could not answer.
Finally he became quite exasperated and said, "I don't know the answers to those questions, but I could find a man in five minute who does."
Henry Ford was never interested in miscellaneous information. He knew what every major executive knows: the ability to know how to get information is more important than using the mind as a garage for facts.
-Excerpt from "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David J. Schwartz-
Einstein taught us a big lesson. He felt it was more important to use your mind to think than to use it as a warehouse of facts.
One time Henry Ford was involved in a libel suit with the Chicago Tribune. The Tribune had called Ford an ignoramus, and Ford, a man of great respect said in effect, "Prove it."
The Tribune asked him scores of simple questions such as "Who was Benedict Arnold?" "When was the Revolutionary War fought?" and others, most of which Ford, who had little formal education, could not answer.
Finally he became quite exasperated and said, "I don't know the answers to those questions, but I could find a man in five minute who does."
Henry Ford was never interested in miscellaneous information. He knew what every major executive knows: the ability to know how to get information is more important than using the mind as a garage for facts.
-Excerpt from "The Magic of Thinking Big" by David J. Schwartz-
No one can imagine how relieved I am when I read this part from the book. Now I can give a perfect excuse on why I don't remember things. For example, I have to write stylesheet using XSLT and CSS in my work and I never remember how to do it. Codes that I often use, I'll remember without having to put much effort and codes I rarely use, I'll always refer to my notes, books, and from the internet.
They are so right. I don't want to be a walking dictionary, World Fact Book or encyclopedia. Googling can always help when we want to find almost any information without having to burden our mind with facts we will not need.
It is more important for us to be able to think and to know where to find the information than to memorize facts. Sadly, our education system has not emphasized on the thinking ability but rather the memorizing capabilities. I come from the same education mold too. How I survive my exams? I crammed as many information as I can at the last minute and expelled all of it once exam is over :) Luckily now, I need to use my brain to think more than to store facts for my work. I never have any problem saying "I don't know but I'll find out" to my boss or the company's clients.
An interesting article: Cooperation And The Mind Alliance Principle
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