Shallow Knowledge

Among human beings we can discern three types: Well Read Scholars, Not Well Reads and Knowledge Shallows. Knowledge Shallows are similar to colleagues with problem behaviors. Tiruvalluvar, a Tamil poet has allotted one chapter in Tirukkural, a treatise authored by him to describe them. The chapter number is 85. Many have translated the chapter heading as ignorance or something like that. Ignorant means someone who does not know anything. I am ignorant about rocket science and I am quite aware of it. Knowledge Shallow, whereas is half-backed plus something. What is that addition? Knowledge Shallow is a noun I have coined to denote individuals who wields only a cursory level knowledge in the subject which they claim as their domain and showcasing the same without entertaining within themselves any doubt about their proficiency. A sort of knowledge upstarts! That upstart is the addition.My external Ph.D., evaluator did not use the word Knowledge Shallow but said that my knowledg
e about Sigmund Freud was cursory. I think he would have wanted to call me a Knowledge Shallow. Thank god! When the examiner who conducted the oral examination wanted me to defend I thought the external examiner was correct and my knowledge was in fact cursory which I confessed to the oral examiner. My candidness was appreciated on the premise that it was an indicator of readiness to learn and the examiner expressed the hope that I would pick up later. Did you notice the oral examiner has changed my status from Knowledge Shallow to Not Well Read? I have described the character Knowledge Shallow making use of the Kurals. Each translated version of the Kural is followed by the description.Low in knowledge is THE poverty among others, // Other poverty(s), world would keep as its nether(s).Few years back I attended a conference in which a faculty from a university department presented a paper. Within minutes the gathering became restless because his paper was anything but a
study material good enough for an undergraduate student. He stopped now and then and encouraged the audience to ask questions. The pitiable part of it was he would not stop on time in spite of the chair reminding him through handwritten chits. Later during the break I heard him saying that the chair ill treated him because of his low academic rank!The Knowledge Shallow whole heartily delivers, // No other feat earns it: it is the tapas of the receivers!Tiruvalluvar shows a highly sophisticate sense of humour. He says a Knowledge Shallow is too willing to pass on his wisdom to keen receivers. But not everyone other than who has rendered a penance would be lucky enough to receive it! This observation has a lesson even for those who are of course not Knowledge Shallows but show some eagerness to deliver it on others! I am one such person. This year our Apartment Committee invited me to participate in the Independence Day celebrations and hoist the flag. I was happy to get the i
nvitation. No sooner they left I sat down to prepare my address.When I was lost in my thought churning something special to children my wife came near me and told to take caution. Her mandate was that I should not speak for more than 10 minutes and my talk should confine to something interesting to everyone and particularly not boring to the children!The hurt the Knowledge Shallows bring themselves on, // Not even their enemies can.The Knowledge Shallows suffer because they act based on what they know. They do not find it convincing that they should update their information from the knowledgeable in the field. A friend of mine has a strong inclination to fix things. No doubt it is a good quality. But he resorts to self medication based on what he picks up here and there from magazines. In India many medicines can be bought without prescription. Recently I heard that his wife had to rush him to the hospital for his bleeding piles which I believe was the result of his self-f
ixing."We possess the best of knowledge," // Shallowness is live when this vainglory reaches the edge.I know one psychologist who practices therapy. One day I was surprised when without any inhibition, he compared his work with that of a surgeon. "A surgeon does not have much of a challenge. He knows where to put his knife. But I have the most difficult job of finding out the cause of my client's behavior." When he spoke like this I had no words to react. Utter lack of inhibition and lack of a sense of appreciation of the nuances of another's work is the hall mark of some of us!When he goes beyond, 'what he knows without doubt' // Doubt arises even on, 'what he knows about.'This character is common place. Here is a story of a cobbler of yester years. When he delivered the shoes he has made on order to the local chieftain he received not only more than what he was contracted to but also much appreciation for a neat job. Emboldened by this the cobbler took some initiative to
offer his feedback on a piece of furniture that has just arrived. Chieftain ignored it. Cobbler continued, only to be rudely told that he should confine to his domain and leave the place. This was told by the chieftain in a poetic way "Sengoda seruppu." Sengodan is the name of the cobbler and seruppu is the Tamil word for a pair of sandals. Even today it is customary in our area to say, 'Sengoda seruppu' when someone takes liberty to say something going beyond his/her expertise.What purpose does dressing up serve, // When Knowledge Shallow takes no step to cover his verve.Protecting one from ignobility is achieved through good attire and sound knowledge equally. Therefore no great purpose is served when someone dresses himself well but has no sound knowledge!I had a graduate dissertation student. On the day of defence my fears about his dissertation became true. Before the defence when we met the examiner on the corridor I found her nodding her head presumably impressed by h
is dress. She was totally taken aback by his presentation latter. She told me it was difficult to pass the dissertation. I concurred with her. "I was impressed by his looks. But now....," she was apologetic. I told her that the student had a good dress sense. He always dressed well. But the same could not be told about his academics. Knowledge Shallow faults on great treatises of life skill, // They act to bring great harm on themselves as well.Knowledge Shallow because of his vainglory has an inherent trait which makes consulting various sources, most importantly great treatises for acquiring life skill unpalatable for him. Is it not true that we come across many such people?Starting from the eighth Kural Tiruvalluvar depicts Knowledge Shallow as a person incapable of benefiting by right type of education. The meaning of these three couplets can be summarised as: Knowledge Shallow does not benefit by the company of wise people because of his indifference to them. He has a d
isinclination to learn by himself because of his vain glory. Knowledge Shallow is a curse on the society until his death.Won't act on other's advice; won't learn by himself, // Until his end this Knowledge Shallow is a disease to his self.Has no learned perspectives; neither he picks them up, // Because of this his home made(s) continue to crop up.He says no to wisdom's voice, // The world considers him as demonic vice.Technique: There is a technique to safeguard oneself from becoming a Knowledge Shallow Read the Kural (chapter 43, no 4) given below:Wisdom is explaining in simple words to others, // And capturing the scope for further knowledge from theirs.Vainglory is because of a false sense of having reached the top. This sense disappears slowly if we listen to what others say on the subject on hand simply because their advanced knowledge or ignorance is capable of kindling deep thought in us. Therefore, put out your resistance and listen what others say. Don't talk simu
ltaneously within yourself. Don't be judgmental. Don't react instantly. Reserve your judgement for some time. Think all the pros and cons of what others say. Such deep reflective thought is the antidote for the symptom of "Knowledge Shallow."# Kural in Tamil means short. It is an epigrammatic form consisting of two sentences with four words in the first sentence and three in the second. Its metre is very complicated. I have translated each Kural to make them to resemble the original to the best of my ability, of course not adhering to the seven words norms due to my inability to implement it in translation into English language which is a foreign tongue to me. Since the What You See Is What You Get editor does not allow breaks I have resorted to the method of putting two slashes after the first sentence. Similarly the first word in each sentence (as is done traditionally by other translators ) starts with a capital letter.

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