"Common Knowledge" Hides The Truth

Posted on June 5, 2009 
Filed Under Effective Thinking

“Well, everyone knows that’s not possible! The experts say so!” We’ve all heard words like these before; they’re usually heard just before someone does something new and innovative. When you hear people saying such things, saying what isn’t possible, or citing “common knowledge,” run the other way. “Parrots” and nay-sayers are a dime-a-dozen; but creative minds — geniuses and innovators — are rare indeed. Seek the “Fifth Expert;” not the 4-out-of-5 who agree that they all heard the same thing in the same place from the same people.

Common knowledge blinds people to the truth. When the Wright brothers said we could fly in airplanes, common knowledge boldly declared otherwise. What was the truth? Time always reveals the answer to that question: The masses are  almost ALWAYS wrong. Why? Because the masses believe what they’re told and look no further; that’s what common knowledge is — whatever the masses have been told. If you find yourself in a large group — who are in agreement on something — you are probably in the wrong group. When there are two large groups who disagree with each other, they are probably all wrong. Think about it.

Consider presidential elections. “My guy is better than your guy.” “No, my guy is better than your guy!” Both are wrong. Nobody is better than anybody else; and, whoever wins the election will still be a politician — there’s no way around that. Some do more good than others, but in the end, we have politicians serving the interests that installed them in their seats of power. Half of the people are going to be displeased because the system is simply designed that way; and politicians who seek the highest seats are typically cut from the same cloth. True seekers of knowledge and enlightenment don’t seek high office, power, or control. Think about it.

But the television and other media tell us what to think about these people; they tell us who they are, what they’re going to do, etc, etc, etc. And the masses believe it. “Everyone knows…” The truth is that everyone simply THINKS they know; and, out of fear of the unknown, they turn those thoughts into beliefs. Common knowledge is nothing more than common belief systems. This is how media and advertising work: The more people you tell, the more people you will be able to convince. It’s the law of averages and it works. We are bombarded with information and the person with the most money and technology usually wins. These are the people who sway public opinion; this is the greatest source of common knowledge.

But there is also the element of ignorance built into common knowledge. Common minds typically think that a thing is impossible simply because it has never happened before and they don’t understand how to make it happen. Just think about the Wright brothers, space travel, cellular phones, computers, etc… Everyone knows such things aren’t possible until they see them with their own eyes. That’s common knowledge. Of course, it is obvious — if you take the time to think about it — that all of these things were indeed possible before anyone saw them with their own eyes. Otherwise, none of them would have happened. All things are possible.

In 1899, the director of the U.S. Patent office said that the office should be closed because everything that could possibly be invented had already been invented. Think about the ignorance that is so prevalent — even at the highest levels of government. Common knowledge would have agreed with this statement. But it couldn’t have been further from the truth. More things have been invented since that statement was made than had been invented in all human history leading up to that statement. Now, who’s to say what’s possible, or what may or may not be invented or discovered in the future? Common knowledge — that’s who.

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