Quotes and Anecdotes - 5

Hello people,

How is this Sunday evening? A bit rainy, chilly and cozy maybe? So, might as well sit back and have a cup of tea or coffee while reading this short and sweet blog.

Here begins the part 5 of #quote_anecdote series

Time and again, we have heard that knowing and understanding are two different concepts all together. Every time that we know something does not necessarily mean we have an understanding about it.

Understanding is such a key term in all walks of our lives. If we miss it, we lose everywhere. 

Fail to understand the people at work, there is chaos.                                                                            Fail to understand people in relationships, there are misunderstandings and fail to understand ourselves, there is no profound meaning in life.  

But here when I use the word 'understanding', I mean something more than this.

Understanding is not just about relating to someone else's thoughts to get their perspective but it is much more. It is also about explaining your perspective to someone else. And the way this understanding translates into teaching defines everything.

It defines how much we ourselves are convinced on something. Sometimes there can be few enlightening moments wherein we realize that we don't really agree with the things we believe we understand. This can make us startled for some time but it does uncover the truth.

After all, there is a reason why there are so many students, but really less teachers in this world. The reason can be simply put in the words of Aristotle

Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.

Knowing is just the beginning, understanding it is next but understanding something to a point where we can explain it to someone else leaves an ever lasting impact. 

Majority of us are like confinements. We have a lot of understanding and wisdom in ourselves but we fail to translate it in ways to propagate it ahead. We have our own short tricks or concepts to crack some algorithm or code but the cycle stays incomplete if we are unable to share it with someone else.

When we talk about knowing, we must also take into account that everyone is somewhat selfish, just the intensities differ.When one does not share his/her knowledge with someone else, it makes them feel powerful.

There is a certain satisfaction that comes by knowing that only you have an access to something, you are the origin and only you get the benefit of possessing that knowledge. 

But let's look at it the other way.

When we have this selfish desire to have a monopoly on some knowledge or wisdom, we are somewhere putting an expiry date to it. When we restrict the flow from ourselves to someone else out there, we are just wasting the resource that can go on for generations to come. 

Hoarding is an easy job but sharing is a challenging affair. Not everyone can do it right.

The takeaway here?

 Know; Understand; Teach/ Explain and Repeat it all over again. 

We know that there is no end to learning but let us make it all worthwhile by sharing it with more and more people around us.

We not only learn from understanding but we learn some more when we share that understanding with someone else other than us.

This one is somewhat disparate from my previous ones. But there was a strong urge in me to share this understanding with all of you. 

And just as I believe, experiments are always a proof that you are trying out something new; newness is always fun, right?

Well, let me know down in comments about your take on 'understanding'.

Happy reading!