how generous are you with your knowledge?

[Metamorphosis]

Unless I think it would harm me in some way, or give them an edge over me...very generous.

[ThatGirl]

Thanks guys for the insightful responses,


This forum rocks.

[YourLocalJesus]

Originally Posted by ThatGirl

How likley are you to sit down and explain or teach?

Are there certain parts of your knowledge that you gaurd from others?

I'm very likely to do so in real life. I'm actually studying to become a teacher in english and history, at what we call "gymnasial level" here in Sweden. Students attending the "gymnasium" are between 16 and 19-20. I might continue my studies in pedagogy and go for a PhD if i'm good enough. As it is, i'm the top student in my class of 40, though.

And yes, there is knowledge that I don't speak of. Mostly about mysticism, ancient religions and other stuff I find interesting, but not really worth wasting anyones time with. And quite frankly, I don't have anyone to talk about a lot of that stuff with. People who have read as much as I have about celtic mythology and the like are mostly weirdos who actually believe in that shit. There is probably lots of hidden pockets in various subjects that I never get to discuss. It's mostly because I never talk to someone who's enthusiastic about such things.

[ygolo]

Originally Posted by ThatGirl

I find it interesting that most of the responses classified the sharing of knowledge as "helping" someone.

Originally Posted by Anja

So. Would you say something more about this?

I am guessing she is implying that we may actually be hindering someone by not letting them figure things out on their own.

There is some truth to that.

Jane Goodall and all.

[FDG]

I would say that I am fairly generous, unless I have something pressing to do.

In high-school and college, I vastly preferred explaining homework solutions to other people than doing my own homework.

LOL. Same here.

[whatever]

I enjoy telling people about things about which I'm enthusiastic- which means that I occasionally wonder if I've managed to bore customers by telling them ALL about wines, or boring my poor family and friends half to death by enthusiastically sharing any new bit of information I've learned. I've been told that the fact that I present this knowlege with the enthusiasm of a 5 year old though makes the compulsive dispensation of information signifigantly more tolerable

I just like talking about things I find interesting

[Owl]

Originally Posted by BlackOp

There is NO evil in nature. We just project our moral fantasies on it.

Winning someone over is a form of manipulation. I'm not so sure my "truth" is the truth...I possibly could be instilling a more complex set of lies. Ignorant people tend to be the happiest. Lighting things on fire/smashing things to bits can be quite cathartic. Why would I want them to be more miserable? Half the people in this country are on meds to make them "stupider"....my selfishness is saving the others money. This is my inadvertent contribution to our species.

I was joking about "god" wanting anything.......people want things. If God exists, it already has everything.

Happiness is the effect of believing you possess that which is good. Thus, an ignorant person may believe he possesses the good and be made happy by this belief without knowing his possessions are not good. But a distinction can be made between happiness and lasting happiness, and the ignoramus will soon discover that his possessions fail to satisfy, and his happiness will fade.

[BlackOp]

Originally Posted by Owl

Happiness is the effect of believing you possess that which is good. Thus, an ignorant person may believe he possesses the good and be made happy by this belief without knowing his possessions are not good. But a distinction can be made between happiness and lasting happiness, and the ignoramus will soon discover that his possessions fail to satisfy, and his happiness will fade.

Who determines anothers requirement for happiness? The fact you have to 'believe" you possess happiness makes one think it is a manufactured emotion. To me, happiness is forgetting everything I have experienced/learned and just BE. It doesnt happen very often. You will never see bliss like playing with a three year old...and he doesnt give a rats ass about Jesus. He's never heard of him....and doesnt require a stringent set of guidelines. He doesnt care about sustaining it either....nor do I. Its just a moment, stamped in time. There is something beautiful in that......We just get greedy and expect it every waking moment. We then look to manufacture the feeling and every moment thats not perfect lends itself to pretending its present....

[niffer]

I don't randomly spout out info everywhere I go, only if someone is actually curious or needs help. And unless they've recently pissed me off, I'd be willing to give them as much knowledge or help or explaining as they'd like, unless I was at a life-or-death level of busyness.

[burkeus]

Originally Posted by Aimahn

In terms of why it seems that a lot of this knowledge is guarded I would have to say that is more a case of an "open mindedness" barrier. I maybe should have sort of prefaced this by saying I am talking more on a 1 v 1 basis rather than a more collective or group/community oriented way.

To me, the second sentence here (above) is precisely the reason that the first sentence is problematic. In other words, the open-mindedness barrier is the direct result of being unable to discern between the 1 to 1 basis and the group. If I know the context that I'm dealing with, I can be much more open-minded in my interaction with others. I guess I've always had this problem, though now I'm just aware of it in a completely different context than before. Being unable to discern has been and continues to be the core issue with which I struggle, regardless of context.