the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorence it is the illusion of knowledge
Answers
It is unquestionably true the greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge. Two great men are credited to have said this famous aphorism. One is Daniel J. Boorstin, the renowned American Hostorian; and the other, Stephen Hawking, the great English cosmologist. Both of them cited the aphorism to caution mankind to beware of the flaw of the illusion of knowledge. The illusion of knowledge can be likened to the maxim ‘A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.’ Rather it is much more dangerous than a little knowledge.
Let’s first try to understand what this ‘illusion of knowledge is’ and how is it dangerous? Well, illusion of knowledge is one’s faulty, subjective, unscientific, unproven, vague, and dubious assumption about a thing, fact, or information. Let’s further understand with an example. Imagine there is an unscrupulous doctor. A patient comes to him with high fever, shivering, and body ache. Assuming the symptoms for an ordinary fever, he gives him antibiotics and other strong medicines without scientifically ascertaining and diagnosis of the patient’s pathological condition. This illusion of the disease’s knowledge may jeopardize the patient’s life!