With so much information available to us today, how do we know what is knowledge and what is nonsense? What is true and what is false? What is useful and what can be disregarded?

The Mind

Our mind acts as a super computer. It processes, stores and calculates everything we absorb through the senses. Many of us bombard it on a daily bases. We fill it with new feeds, social media, hearsay and various experiences that come our way. The mind needs time and space to process this information and these experiences. We do not usually allow it this time. What we expose ourselves to evidentially becomes our world and the way we see the world. With this in mind, we can begin to understand what is knowledge and what is nonsense. What can truly help us, or what is simply useless information filling up the storage banks of the mind. We can also begin to understand why things are a certain way and why people act in certain ways.

Is it helpful? 

A question we might ask ourselves is, is this information helpful? Many of us dwell on the past, watch history documentaries, read books about the ancients and study how things used to be. The past is there for us to learn not to make the same mistakes again. This is a key point which many past lookers seem to miss. If something interests you and resonates with you deeply, then by all means go deep into it. The question perhaps we should be asking is, how can I use what I’m learning to better myself and the lives of those around me? Perhaps this is what some people are searching for, a way to help humanity in the present by using the past. Perhaps some are looking to make their statement on this planet by becoming the founder of this or that.

More knowledge, more power

It is a common belief that more knowledge means more power. Let us look at the atom bomb for example. In this instance, this is true. J. Robert Oppenheimer had the knowledge to create a weapon that was capable of mass destruction. His knowledge killed thousands of people. In the eyes of many, this is perhaps knowledge that should have been discarded. The information he possessed, should have perhaps been concealed within his own mind for the benefit of others. Alas, ego took control and the need to be recognised was present at the expense of so many lives. A wise person may have perhaps kept this information to themselves.

If it worked in the past, it will always work.

Just because something worked in the past, doesn’t mean it works now. So many have stubborn beliefs that because it was done this way or that way in the past by their ancestors, it must be done the same way. Tradition or culture are words that are causing so much damage. Because of culture animals a slain and eaten, because of tradition wars a waged, countries divided and love lost or separated.

The way we farm, for example, is so detrimental to the soil and to the planet. For centuries we have tilled soil on a mass scale. This was a means to an end in order to feed large groups of people. Now we have the knowledge to farm without tilling, damaging the soil and causing global warming. Methods have been tried and tested to produce more crops, better quality food without chemicals and with the potential for more work opportunities. For more information on desertification, please check out Kiss The Ground or Conscious Planet.

Now we can look at the information from the past and present and determine whether the things we believed in before are know knowledge or nonsense. You can decide.

More nonsense

There is also a lot of nonsense when it comes to diet, nutrition and how we are meant to look after ourselves in general (more about these topics coming soon). We are conditioned to think and behave in a certain why, to believe that what is unnatural is natural. We are allowing ourselves to be conditioned in such a way that we’re unable to think for ourselves, we simply act on impulse without mindful consideration. Many people have unfortunately become so filled with nonsense, that they believe themselves and their desires to be above everything else. This is when we and the world we live in becomes unbalanced.

Action and consequence

If we look at the potential results of our actions, we can see clearly what the possibilities maybe due to our actions. An attitude has plagued us, that someone else will do it or worry about it. Living in such an unconscious way can only bring about destruction of not only ourselves, but of the world as we know it.

I heard it on the tv/radio, so it must be true!

The media is there to entertain you. I’m told by my grandmother that there was a time when the TV only had one channel. At times this channel would display the news and something there would be no news! We cover everything nowadays, from lost kittens to mass killings. We are fed love, death, creation and destruction on an almost alarming rate. What does this teach us? Is it helpful? Are we addicted to the drama? We can only be sure of the truth, if we experience it and understand ourselves. No matter how hard someone tries to describe the colour orange to a blind person, they will never fully understand what it is like unless they themselves experience it. By doing our own research and looking at both sides of the coin, we can begin to get the complete picture and make up our own minds.

The bottom line

This is a topic I could explore in great detail, as there is much to be said about it. However, for the purpose of this post and to keep things short enough for our busy minds, it’s probably best to conclude here.

The choice is always our own and at any moment we can take charge of our mind and direct our focus towards a common goal…happiness. It is a constant practice to remain aware and present in the face of our actions and the way we behave. What we expose ourselves to will have a large impact on the way we act, behave and how our world is shaped, unless we are conscious enough to see things for the way they are. Believe in what you can understand and leave the hearsay to the waste side, unless you can confirm it for yourself. Practice what you preach and always be open to change.

By : Sebastian