“Knowledge is power”. You have undoubtedly heard this phrase a thousand times over. In its typical usage, it means that being educated will bring you success and material wealth in life. However, when it comes to the realm of psychology, I take this saying much more literally.
In this blog, we will explore the role that knowledge plays in the creation of our imagined self and the ramifications it has on our lives.
First and foremost, we should analyze what we mean when we say “knowledge is power”. As we reviewed in the Change blog, we start to fear change and try to avoid that change starting in early development. Consequently, one of the best ways to avoid this change is by having knowledge of the world around you and the things that will happen to you. After all, if you have knowledge of what is happening then you can take actions to prevent that change. Fundamentally, this knowledge becomes something we strive after. It is why we are curious as children– it provides safety, comfort, and security.
The positive reinforcement that stems from having knowledge will lead us to incorporate being “knowledgeable” or “smart” into our sense of imagined self. Almost every person incorporates being “smart” or “knowledgeable” into their imagined self in one way or another. This quality is uniquely able to be incorporated into our imagined self; qualities like beauty and fitness have external modes of verification, whereas intelligence is subjective and almost anyone can lay claim to being intelligent.
Now, this is all fairly abstract, so let’s look at a common example: someone who dislikes their job or career path. This person is in their 20s or 30s and has recently found that they do not like their job or their chosen career path. They are fully capable of pursuing a different career but chose not to. More often than not, this decision to stay unhappy on their current career path stems from a fear of change. This person is more willing to stay unhappy in their current path than live in the unknown. In their mind, they rationalize that, “I don’t know what I would do if I don’t pursue ______”. For most people, it is more comforting to live in unhappiness than to live in the unknown. As uncomfortable as we may be in the present, it does bring along a level of certainty and predictability.
This idea of intelligence being incorporated with our imagined self also gives us an insight into the mental processes of a conspiracy theorist. One commonality to all conspiracy theorists is that they all believe that they are uniquely smart and have unique access to certain “facts”. Most conspiracy theorists also refuse to reject their conspiratorial beliefs when confronted with contradictory evidence. I believe that this stubbornness stems from the fact that they have incorporated this façade of intelligence into their imagined self, and as we discussed previously, people desperately hold onto their sense of imagined self.
Overall, it is not a bad thing to be knowledgeable or to be smart. However, it is always worth doing introspection to consider the extent to which this desire for knowledge has been incorporated into your imagined self. These irrational thought processes can wreak havoc on your life and happiness if allowed to persist.
This was a really interesting and insightful post! I think humans may also crave knowledge for other reasons than comfort and security. For example, many of the most famous physicists from the 20th century who developed quantum mechanics were horrified by their own findings and conclusions as they all pointed to a universe possibly ruled by chance. However, they continued to theorize, not just for the benefits of themselves but for the common good of having knowledge about how the universe works. Knowledge is not only for oneself. Some people seem to pursue knowledge in an altruistic way for the good of everyone.
This was one of my favorite posts to read so far! It incorporated many elements of your previous blog posts and then took a new spin on them. All of your theorizing behind one’s “imagined self” is extremely insightful, especially your point about how we all want to imagine ourselves as smarter than we actually are. Also, your example about a person who stays with their job, despite being unhappy, because they fear change, is particularly relevant and I think it’s a very helpful reminder to sometimes embrace the unknown.
Very interesting claims here. I never viewed knowledge as a way of comforting myself; well, to some extent I did, but mostly to satiate my curiosity. I really enjoyed reading your passion blog and getting to know a lot about psychology. I don’t know whether or not you want to pursue a major in Psychology, but it looks like it.