Valuable Ideas

Knowledge is the most powerful thing that we have as humans.  It has given us all of our advancements and has brought us closer together as a society.  However it’s a double edge sword, our knowledge has led to wars and the murders of million upon millions of people.  It hold no tangible value and can be faked, yet it is valued by so many people. 

This is reflected in many books and stories in past society and today’s society.  There are many stories on how ideas are dangerous and that they should be censored.  There are also many stories that have the theme of ideas being the solution to their problems.  I watched the required movie Fahrenheit 451 and it convinced me to pick the book up again.  This being one the book I was forced to read in high school, it meant a lot for that to happen.

I started reading it, and although I didn’t finish it (I plan to finish it when I get the time to),  it was like a brand new story for me.  I loathed reading this in high school and opted just to read the spark notes to pass the quiz the following class.  Now knowing the value of ideas and critical thinking, it’s much more engaging.

In these stories ideas are seen as the bad force, they need to be purged.  They are the bringer of all our problems and if we just stop thinking differently, we wont have these issues.  This is kind of true in the real world as well.  As we find new things, new ways of life, they threaten the old.  There is no positive change or negative change, just like evil refers to the nation that lost the war.  Knowledge is a dangerous weapon but it is something that must be pursued.