Ragne's Abyss

I yearn for knowledge. I crave it more than anything, to know all that I can. There’s something so appealing about a person who’s educated. They know of literature, they’re good at math, they understand science, and they can restate history. 

The concept of self-learning is remarkable to me. It’s far more complex than learning from a teacher. You’re teaching yourself subjects you don’t know and that you’ve yet to understand. That alone is impressive–the dedication to education. I wish to be knowledgeable not just in the field of my study. 

To have a brain and to not want to expand it is ludicrous. I never understood those who refuse to learn. Sure, it’s difficult, but is it not rewarding? The statement, “I’m never going to use it, so why learn it?”, is blatant ignorance. 

Of course you’ll use it, just not in the ways you’d imagine. Opportunity will arise in conversation, even in your career. To know culture is to understand people. To know literature is to understand language. To know history is to understand the world. To know math is to understand function. To know science is to understand creation. No form of knowledge is useless.

The most beautiful part of knowledge is that it’s infinite. You’ll never know it all, no matter how much you study. It gives the world such mystique that it’s alluring. There’s nothing more exciting than learning something I had no idea about. Second to that is sharing the information I learned. Teaching someone something I was once taught almost gives me déjà vu. The remembrance of that moment of learning. 

The fact that we’re more than capable of learning beyond our means is a gift not celebrated. If anything, it’s rarely used. Even pushed away due to its intimidating concept. Knowledge is power—that’s why the highly educated are demonized. They’re seen as threats to the government and malicious to the world. Socrates, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and Chico Mendes are all examples of individuals who were killed for their knowledge and opposing worldly beliefs. 

Socrates was forced to drink hemlock, a poisonous flower, in 399 BCE due to his philosophical ideas “corrupting the youth”. Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian writer, was murdered in 1995 by the Nigerian government due to his activism on oil companies damaging the environment. Chico Mendes, a Brazilian environmentalist, was assassinated in 1988 due to his attempts at stopping exploitation of the Amazon jungle. 

The danger behind knowledge and questioning, though scary, makes me seek it more. A weapon I can craft myself and house internally—why wouldn’t you want it?

Education should be abused rather than misused. Advantages should be taken when given the opportunity. Knowledge is a weapon you die with, it can never be taken away. I aim to learn everything and never stop asking questions. My mind will continue to build until my last breath. For, that’s what it’s meant to do. 

Wasting natural abilities is a waste of self and a lack of drive.