The 21st century is the century of knowledge. The last stage
of data processing, knowledge is what the world is competing on. With knowledge
comes responsibility- the responsibility to bring about a change in the society.
Knowledge only for aesthetic purposes does not do any good to anyone.
The “Google guys”- Larry Page and Sergey Bring, put their knowledge and algorithm
to use to serve the society. They made the task of searching things easier. They
did not have a source of revenue for a long time. What motivated them was to
make the search mechanism easier. What became of Google is history.
The society ranks and respects ethical companies more highly than
companies in the same industry. People like philanthropy and would prefer to
transact with an ethical company than even a neutral one. There is a trust that
people build when dealing with a company, which shows character.
Knowledge put to use only for selfish proposes can do more harm than
good. If Albert Einstein had not documented or shared the energy emission
formula or would have had a bad character to put it to use for destructive
purposes, we would not have seen the progress in the world of physics that we
have seen today.
People don’t like a person who is an excellent student and aces at
academics but does not share his/her notes. One who is not of a helpful nature
is despised by people. It might benefit the person in the short run with grades
but is harmful in the long run as one has to deal with people in life and not
only knowledge.
Critics of this argument may argue that necessity is the mother of
invention. But the question that remains is does the invention come about at
the right time from the person of right character who can put the knowledge to constructive
use.
Hence, knowledge with character applied in the right direction is a boon.
It can show us the untrodden paths which might lead us to the light we are yet
to see. Without character knowledge can be dangerous. It does not serve any
good. It might only be partially beneficial to the person holding it.
