Knowledge from a Bird Feeder

"Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge." -Khalil Gibran

Knowledge is defined as "information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject." But why do we seek knowledge? The answer to that is rather complex and many people devote their lives to resolving it.

In philosophy, the study of knowledge is called epistemology. An entire field of study into why and how we seek knowledge. In psychology, they concentrate on how different levels of knowledge effect your well-being. Both of these fields of study will take you off into many different areas of study.

In my view of knowledge, the procurement of knowledge comes down to two basic things; survival and advancement. One can debate that there are many more facets to knowledge. That I would not dispute, but simply put we acquire knowledge for these two main reasons.

To survive, we need to learn how to obtain the four basic necessities in life which are; air, water, food, and shelter. Some lists add clothing as a necessity, although I include it within shelter. How we obtain these items for survival is by knowledge. You may wonder why we need knowledge to obtain air; it is always there. Our bodies through biological and learned means come to realize breathing is essential. We learn that we can not dive into the water and survive for very long without air.

We learn that if we sit near a camp fire, any smoke that blows into our face will make breathing difficult. We learn to move away from that smoke. The same knowledge is needed for the other survival necessities in life. Water to hydrate us and keep us healthy, food to nourish and strenghten our bodies, shelter to keep us dry or warm and protected. Each of these are acquired knowledge and could be 'just enough' in life.

There comes a point when we need to advance forward in our life. This will happen if we use up those resources necessary to survive. This will happen if our family grows and we need a larger shelter or more resources. We have to acquire knowledge to advance our lives. Without knowledge, we will become stagnant and fade away. Life requires knowledge.

Knowledge will push you forward to greater things in life. If you are perplexed by the inability to get ahead in life, pick up a book, research the internet, take a class. Do things that will increase what you know. Make yourself smarter about all that is around you. Knowledge will take you further than repetitively pounding two rocks together.

The perplexity of life that we each encounter is solvable. If you watch a squirrel figure out a 'squirrel-proof' bird feeder, then you will understand what I am talking about. As the squirrel trys new things, it is learning what does and does not work. The knowledge obtained eventually allows the squirrel to overcome that which is hindering its survival.

You have the ability to overcome so much in life by simply increasing your knowledge. Having this knowledge will provide you with your best life. Having this knowledge will be your best life. Gain more in your life.