KNOWLEDGE IS POWER;
Money and physical strength are often regarded as instruments of power. In olden days, a man with a powerful body was considered to be the natural leader of his tribe. Even today, a man with a strong body commands the respect of his fellow beings.
Similarly, a man of wealth commands great influlence in com- munity. If he cannot get what he wants, he can buy it. Moreover, in our inflationary age, wealth has come to occupy a place which it had never attained before. A wealthy person is therefore looked upon with awe just because he is wealthy.
We have to admit, however, that a knowledgeable person can charter his own course in life, and attain heights which are denied to lesser persons. It is with the power of his knowledge that man today criss-crosses the oceans, travels through space, and can blast a high mountain to lay a railway line.
Knowledge is a power in moral and intellectual spheres also. It enables us to distinguish right from wrong, good from evil. It helps a man meet dangers and difficult situations with courage and confi- dence. It is on account of this power of knowledge that through history men have happily laid down their lives for ideals sacred to them.
In the material world, knowledge has worked miracles: distances have been shortened, epidemies have been controlled, and man's life has been made comfortable and secure. The invention of nuclear weapons, paradoxically, has lessened the danger of a major war between super powers.
The great quality of knowledge is that once gained it cannot be destroyed. While empires rise and fall, knowledge "grows from more to more". But we have to admit that there are are some limita- tions to knowledge. In the first place mere knowledge is not power, knowledge applied to the problems of life is power, Secondly, knowledge is power for good as well as evil. It may prove more destructive than constructive. In war, a country may destroy another in the twinkling of an eye with the help of its megaton nuclear bombs.
In peace, the scientists with the help of their knowledge can improve the lot of the whole race of human beings with the help of the same nuclear energy which proves so destructive in war. Thus, knowledge must be linked to a moral order, to goodness and to truth if it is to prove a blessing for mankind.
