The danger of knowledge

On social media on Internet as Face book and others many individuals publish information about themselves which can be misunderstood. The photo of yourself from the last party might be an obstacle while applying for a new job, for example.

This is a new phenomenon. More people than before experience the danger of knowledge. It is a danger or at least a problem that others can have this knowledge about you.

But the problem is not new. It is only the size and its openness that is new.

There has always been files with disturbing facts about people in many places. Secret agencies, police, social security, schools, work places, news media are all interested in disturbing facts about people.

Normally this is very secret, in particular for the individual concerned. The new thing is that the concerned individuals suddenly can see how information about them can be used.

This is obviously a chock for many. What is perfectly normal and socially accepted in one situation is most controversial in another context.

There is a problem here, but it is not in knowledge but in the interpretation of facts. You could say it is about the ability to read.

Most of us would say we know how to read. But many of us read as a computer, word for word. This is of course a very limited way of understanding language. It misses out most of the information in a text.

If we know how to read, in the meaning of understanding context and subtext and overtones, there would be no danger. Then we could read everything for what it is worth, and thus avoid misunderstanding.

The advantage of the debate about information in social media is that we can imagine the difficulties of the traditional secret handling of disturbing information. How many problems have been created in the past by putting a piece of information in the wrong context?