# The Response to Knowing More and it's Exponential Growth By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-01-30 Very few people take the time to learn about the structure or reasoning behind the why. For example, why do spreadsheets work as they do? Or, why do social systems exist? If one takes a course in such things, the instructor will likely provide at least a summary of the reasoning behind the why. However, a person new to the topic is likely unprepared to comprehend this fully. Instead, as beginners, we seek out basic operating rules and guidelines that allow for sufficient operation of the thing of interest. After all, one does not need to know how a TV works to operate one and watch a show. With many things in life, we barely grasp how to operate things. This is part of life in the modern age. We cannot hope to know everything, or knowledge would paralyze us. Yet, some choose to go deeper on topics, to revisit the beginning to understand the essential components and the why. Only by knowing the reasoning behind the why can one hope to fix inherent flaws and find new ways of operating and existing. If one has experienced what it is like to learn more than the operating manual, one knows precisely how much there is to know and how little one understands. When one thinks about the future, how little one knows, and how quickly new knowledge is generated, one can respond in one of three ways. The first is to ignore it and muddle through. The second is to reject it and attempt to return to simpler times so one can know it all. Here, one places the individual above all else and emphasizes the art of self-reliance and individual liberties. The third is to accept it and the collective dependence it creates. Here, one sees individuals as a part of the more extensive human experience of collective progress. One exists but is not separate from others. This is the conservative versus progressive debate as it relates to one's position within the universe of being and knowing. Understanding this can help one operate beyond the operating manual of modern politics. #### Related Items [[Life]] [[Politics]] [[Knowledge]] [[Individuals]] [[Society]] [[Thinking]] [[Understanding]]