Incomplete Knowledge is Dangerous
A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring: their shallow draughts intoxicate the brain, and drinking largely sobers us again. A small amount of knowledge can mislead people into thinking that they are more expert than they really are. Most would agree complete knowledge is better, and less dangerous than incomplete knowledge- on any given topic.
Why Little Knowledge is Dangerous
This Reminds Me A Tale From The Epic Mahabharatha Revolving Around Abhimanyu.
Only Arjun and Drona knew how to crack the Chakravyuha (an invincible formation that is deadly enough to finish the war in one day). Abhimanyu learned to crack Chakravyuha while in Subhadra's womb but he didn't know how to get out of it. Arjuna was fighting the war on a different front and Drona laid out Chakravyuha so that Yudhistira can be leisurely captured. Abhimanyu came to the rescue saying that he can break this formation. He was given the defense of 3 other Pandavas but Jayadratha held them off in the first door of Chakravyuha.
Result of Half-knowledge
He was killed mercilessly by Kaurava warriors and died an unfortunate death. He was courageous, but his half-knowledge cost him his life. The fact that he relied his defense on his 3 Pandava uncles, whom he considered superior to him in warfare was a costly mistake.
Be careful while you practice your application of knowledge in real life. Also, do not blindly trust your resources; you never know when they will fail.
Example of half-knowledge
- It's more prudent to say as far as we know there is no god' than to say, 'because we cannot prove there is no god, there must be a god'. That's because this information- is information that we know completely. 'that we as far as we know, there is no god' This is good too because in this statement we admit ignorance.
- Or because we cannot prove the remote is not in the house, it must be in the house. It's much more reasonable to say that as far as you know there is no remote in the house. Because that's the truth.
