RANDOM POST 1

“Knowledge is Power.” That phrase was everywhere in middle school, decorating the hallways and plastered in front of the clock. It was the school mantra. While I agree that knowledge is power, I have always wondered if there is such a thing as having too much knowledge. We all know that people with too much power can be dangerous, a threat to democracy and society. Could it be the case that people with too much knowledge are also a threat to society? Or better put, is there such a thing as forbidden knowledge?

My journey to solve this question took me to the biblical story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In the Bible, the serpent, a physical representation of the Devil, tempts Eve with a fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, telling her that if she eats the from the tree, her “‘eyes will be opened, and [she] will be like God, knowing good and evil’” (Genesis 3:5). Once the Lord God discovers that Adam and Eve have eaten from the tree, He says “ man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever’” (Genesis 3:22). In other words, because Adam and Eve now know “evil knowledge,” they must be banished from the Garden of Eden. This told me that to Lord God, there was a distinction between knowledge. There was a type of knowledge that was so bad that Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden for knowing it. I wondered, what was that knowledge and how do I avoid it?

This passage seemed simple for me to grasp as a kid. Scripture says there is good and bad knowledge in this world and that we should stay away from the bad knowledge and retain the good knowledge. As a 7 year old, the concept of good and bad is very simple. Learn how to add and subtract so that I can get an A on my exam, good. Learn how to cheat on an exam, bad. Everything was black and white, there was a correct and incorrect, everything could be classified into a good or bad. That, of course, no longer applies as an adult. Life is more complex now, decisions are more complex, there is not always going to be a clear “good” or “bad.”

Should the knowledge of creating the atomic bomb be classified as forbidden? The fact that it ended WW2, does that change its classification? Should the creation of soda and highly processed foods that actively hurt our body be forbidden? Knowledge is a beautiful thing that leads to the development of society, to the security of our civilization, but I would invite everyone reading this post to ask themselves as they advance in life, what are the implications of these inventions I am going to make and will this knowledge serve mankind or cause further destruction and its demise.


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