One must wonder in today’s internet society, what is knowledge? Who has it? In decades and centuries passed our forefathers and so on attended formal education to obtain knowledge of the world around them. It was the elite that could afford to attend such education that benefitted. Now, with the internet, constant streaming media and news updates, anyone can have knowledge that someone with formal education has. Many times as it turns out those internet sources are not as reliable as the scholarly journals and books available, but with education being pushed on every individual it’s not a wonder that so many thirst for it.
However, just as the elite looked down upon the people without that education, in the past so do people today do the same. Why not give people the benefit of the doubt and allow them to learn from you? I have a 4 yr. Bachelor degree , will be attending graduate school soon, and yet I was one of the uneducated not so long ago. I vowed as part of my education I would learn to be tolerant of all people and share my knowledge with those less fortunate instead of sticking my nose at them. When I sit among the less educated than me I speak as if I would with anyone else and if they ask what am I speaking of or say they do not understand I take the time to explain to them. Some in my same situation would instead choose to thumb their nose at them and even perhaps walk away or worse yet not associate with those less fortunate. But this isn’t about me…it’s about all of you…I think part of wisdom and growing to be fully human requires one to be more patient and tolerant of all people. After all that is what Jesus, Buddha, Ghandi, Mohammed, etc were trying to teach us right?
I challenge you all to all to do the same. For the next few weeks try being more tolerant and just see what you may learn from someone less fortunate. After all the saying is we learn something new everyday, and someone had to teach you the knowledge you obtained.
