THE GREATEST ENEMY OF KNOWLEDGE IS NOT IGNORANCE, IT IS ILLUSION OF KNOWLEDGE.

The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is not Ignorance, It is Illusion of Knowledge

Bon Ami Laishram

“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is illusion of knowledge”, is a proverb by the world’s most decorated theoretical physicist Stephen William Hawking. The proverb means that a person who does not know anything is better than a person who assumes or thinks he knows everything. The advantage of having a relevant and a valid knowledge is that a valid knowledge can be used for transforming the world successfully and takes the world a step closer to the moon and a vague knowledge can fail the entire planned operation and takes a step closer to the hell. It is through brilliant knowledge that human transformed the world into a global village.

The proverb is found is to equally relevant in  the ancient era, the medieval era and the present modern era. In the ancient era, the man who barely came out of ignorance and started searching and gathering the facts about the place and the surroundings was much better than the lion or other wild creatures who considered themselves as the owners of the forest and the surroundings. And hence, mankind has emerged as the most advanced creature and now leading the planet. Even in the medieval era, the illusion of knowledge had huge impact. Illusion of knowledge impacted many unorganized and princely kingdoms around the world. Hence, they became preys in the hands of the European Powers. Even some impacts can be seen in the present modern contempory world as well.
The main factor of deceleration in life is one’s own perception about himself that he knows everything even though it’svaque.Obviously, its illusion that binds him and it becomes the main reason of diversion from the goal. It is fine when he accepts that he does not know about the particular thing properly or he does not have any knowledge about it. He can at least point out the spot which he is unaware and ignorant about in such scenerios. He can further research and find out the reliable facts and figures about the particular subject. And perhaps, he can work again on it with relevant knowledge. This step will play significant role in conversion of failure to success.
Likewise, this proverb can be related to the life of Stephen Hawking. Stephen Hawking has been paralyzed for over decades. He communicates using a single cheek muscle attached to a speech generating device. Despite of being paralyzed over decades, he has done tremendous works on physics and mathematics. He can be compared to Albert Einstein himself. He has enough knowledge about physics and the universe, however, he is still in his mission to find more facts and figures .So that he can enrich his knowledge and work for the betterment of the future of mankind without leaving any room for error as a single error can fail his mission. Hence, Hawking urges himself and his fellow researchers to gather more knowledge on every field as everything in the universe is interrelated to one another. A scientist with illusive principle and theory can never succeed. However, the failed work inspires other brilliant minds in science.
This proverb is closely related to another proverb “A little knowledge is dangerous thing.” These two universal facts can be related to each other with knowledge being the common fcator. A little knowledge is more dangerous than ignorance as an incomplete knowledge can lead the mission till halfway only and ultimately leads to failure. A little knowledge can also be termed as illusion of knowledge as the person with a little knowledge about the field live in the illusive world thinking he can complete the mission successfully with a little knowledge he acquires and there would be someone on the way to guide him. The most relevant example is Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna in the epic the Mahabharata. He has a little knowledge about the warfare in the Chakravyuha. He knows the tactics to enter in the array but he doesn't  know the tactics of exiting from the lotus shape array. He won’t have gone in the array if he is completely ignorant about the array but he acquires a little and hence, he loses his life in the array itself , leaving behind his grand mission. Therefore, knowledge should be obtained at the right time so that it can be used at the right time and at the right place. Illusion should be kept away from the learning environment. People should be in illusion only while enjoying a grand magic show by a world celebrated magician or illusionist.
People should always stay away from illusion in the learning process. Ignorance can be erased by throwing light on the particular field but illusion of knowledge is very difficult to deal with. And hence, illusion becomes the greatest enemy of knowledge.
      
“The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is illusion of knowledge”, is certainly true of all different aspects of life. It is also true in learning process. Nobody is born intellectual. An intellectual like Stephen Hawking is made with endless knowledge without any illusive thoughts. They are the result of patience, sacrifices, effort and struggle. Everyone should get rid of illusion of knowledge and gain intellectuality through rigorous efforts.