Knowledge is power.

This phrase has become quite pervasive in our culture (and others maybe, I’m not sure), and is often used as an educational principle to encourage learning. As far as sayings go, it’s a pretty good one: it’s short, easy to remember, and appeals to our almost universal desire for power. My only issue with it is that it’s wrong.

Or at least, it’s not completely right. A key piece is missing, which is summed up nicely using a quote from the endless wisdom of high school students who whine about things: “When are we ever going to use this?”

Knowledge confers power only in proportion to its application. Knowing how to defuse a bomb is only useful if you encounter bombs that need defusing. Otherwise that knowledge isn’t making you powerful, it’s just making you knowledgeable. Scientific discovery is only as valuable as the applications that it allows: the technological advancements, treatment improvements, or behavioral changes it elicits. Knowledge that doesn’t change behavior isn’t powerful.

You might argue that even if you don’t ever come in contact with bombs that need defusing (hopefully you don’t ever), it is important knowledge to have just in case.

This is a good point: the potential application of knowledge is an important consideration in what we choose to learn. Sometimes what we learn will be powerful in the future, even if it seems pointless or inconsequential now. Alternately, we can go through life not ever needing to know that the U.S. has never lost a war in which mules were used. We can’t foresee all the situations in which we may find ourselves, but we shouldn’t stop ourselves from learning something because we don’t think it will ever be useful. Just don’t confuse being knowledgeable with being powerful.

With all this in mind, however, there is one way knowledge can be powerful without direct application: Education. Those who give others knowledge so that they can apply it are also powerful. If you teach someone how to defuse a bomb, and they go find and defuse a bomb (you know, just on the streets somewhere), then it is still your knowledge that has been applied (this is why teachers are so important; they are powerful people).

The best education isn’t just the giving of knowledge though. It is the instruction of how knowledge should be applied. It instructs how behavior should be changed because of the knowledge gained. The purpose of education isn’t just for us to know better, it’s is for us to do better and to be better.

I want to reiterate that I think the previous aphorism is a pretty good one, I would just make one minor alteration:

Applied knowledge is power.

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