Knowledge is potential

Gracie Smith
MSMU Class of 2027

"The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge"
- Aristotle

(3/2025) One of the many things you learn growing up is that knowledge is power. Many say this to encourage our youth to read and invest in their own research. That was the case for me, anyway. Growing up with an extreme thirst for knowledge, my teachers often commented that knowledge was power and that they saw me going places. I was always the student to do outside research to better understand a topic and form my own opinion of things that may or may not have aligned with where my teacher stood. In some circumstances, this led to inconsistencies that further drove me to understand. In my 19 years of learning about the world, I’ve come to the conclusion that knowledge is not power. No matter how smart you are, or how much you may know about a certain subject, none of it truly matters in the end. In fact, what matters is the impact you make on others and the actions you put forth from the knowledge you’ve obtained. That is to say, knowledge is only potential.

Having come to this realization rather recently, I’d like to dedicate this article to advocate reading as a form of self-care. Allowing ourselves the opportunity to obtain information and develop opinions of our own makes us stronger human beings. It further presents us with the opportunity to act, given that we have the knowledge to support us. Setting ourselves up to succeed means not only caring for ourselves, but also preparing ourselves to help others with the thoughts we’ve generated from the knowledge acquired over the years through reading. Allow me to further elaborate.

When we read, we coerce ourselves to be open-minded. By forcing ourselves to read we enable our minds to adapt to the knowledge being pertained. Not only can reading be a form of entertainment, but a form of enlightenment. However, as mentioned previously, this article will focus on the enlightenment of reading. To start doing this, I encourage reading non-fiction. That isn’t to say that reading fiction is bad, but fiction is more or less used as a form of reading for entertainment rather than gaining knowledge. Over the past several months I have been accumulating a large number of nonfiction titles to add to my library at home. The topics vary from World War I to why the Confederacy lost the Civil War. However, all will get the juices flowing.

This semester I was tasked with reading Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography. Reflecting on this experience, I will first say that Franklin’s autobiography should be read and taught in schools across the Country. Secondly, I was educated more synchronically about the 18th century because of this reading. My conception of time pre-19th century is honestly a blur. Reading this autobiography strengthened my understanding and further helped me to apply that knowledge in my other courses that are focused on the 18th century. My professors noted that Franklin’s autobiography is most memorable for his arrival in Philadelphia, and this scene is often paired with the reflection of the "American Dream". That said, I was able to conceptualize my own opinion of the American Dream through Franklin’s autobiography. Had I not read this, I would have been a bit more narrow-minded in my conception. Nevertheless, I did read his autobiography. This led to many late and restless nights where I was left debating many things. What does this say about Americans in the 18th century vs today? Does this conception still apply? If not, why? Reading influenced me to ask myself these questions and further led to very deep conversations in class that enriched my mind.

Once we have obtained the knowledge we’re satisfied with, we strengthen ourselves enough to act on our knowledge. Hence my claim that knowledge is only potential. Our ability to act is what gives us power. For instance, those with knowledge have used it to help other people. For those who read my February article about Galileo, we can compare his actions to my claim. Galileo learned that the Earth and the other planets rotated around the sun. This disproved the previous conception that everything in the sky rotated around the Earth. Instead of just having this knowledge, Galileo challenged the theologians and fought for them to accept this new discovery. He even suffered persecution against him for the sake of ensuring the people of his time would benefit from his discovery. Knowledge is potential; action is power.

Reading is the first step to living a life of significance. Those who dedicate their entire lives to understanding something have only made it halfway. Reading allows us to strengthen our minds, our thoughts, our opinions, and gives us the confidence to speak about them. As I begin to run out of space for this article, it could be said that I am promoting knowledge as a form of self-care. However, I hold that the best way to obtain knowledge is through books, and we must start somewhere.

All in all, reading as self-care presents the opportunity for us to engage in something we love. Allowing ourselves to learn through reading is one of the richest ways to enable us to help others. Doctors, as we know it, spend years studying medicine so that one day they may heal the hurt. Lawyers, as we know it, spend years studying the Constitution so that they may defend the defenseless. Historians, as we know it, spend years studying the past so that we may better the future. This March, I urge you to reflect on something you're passionate about and read on it. Not only can I guarantee you’ll find it enjoyable, but you will grant yourself the power and the opportunity to do something great with your knowledge. Everyone wants to be remembered for having an impact, this is where you start. Knowledge is potential; action is power.