The Daily Stoic - January 2 - Knowledge is Freedom

For the last year and a half, I have been focused on physical health; something I neglected for far too long. For 2022, I will continue to focus on physical health, but I will be incorporating mental health as well.

Typically, I use this blog to post my reviews of books that I have read throughout the year, but this year, I am also going to use it to follow my journey through a book called The Daily Stoic. I did not realize that there was also a daily reflection journal as well, so I may miss some of the reflection points as I did not purchase it. I am new to Stoicism, so I am not at all knowledgeable in the area. It is my hope that this will change as the year passes.

For January 2, the mediation to reflect on is that knowledge is freedom. I found this to be somewhat interesting because all our lives we are told that knowledge is power. So, what is knowledge? Is it power? It is freedom? Is it both?

I spent a little time (maybe an hour or so) with Google and searched for knowledge is power vs knowledge is freedom. Most of the articles I found either went along the lines of “knowledge is power” or “knowledge is power is freedom.” I also found a “blook” by David Gurteen called Conversational Leadership. Apparently a blook is a combination of book and blog; this is the first time I have heard (or read in this case) the term.

The chapter I read (found here) was about knowledge management and it argued that knowledge is not power. The chapter contained a list of things you could do with knowledge. I will not list them all here, but among them was “chose to ignore it” and “not accept it as true.” Most of the items on the list had a common theme and that theme was the ability to chose what to do with that knowledge. This is free will. This is freedom.

Two other items in the list were “not have the political skills to influence or persuade senior management to take you seriously” and “not have the budget or other resources to put the knowledge into action.” These limitations, while not power, are still actionable.

Don’t have the budget? Raise funds.

Don’t have the skills to connect with your superiors or other groups you need to influence? Learn them (more knowledge!). Become effective.

Having knowledge does not grant power; it grants you the freedom to make informed decisions or take action based on that knowledge. Knowledge is freedom. Knowledge is freedom that can lead to power.