A human being is a social animal that can’t exist without a society. Knowledge is one the basis of society and forming civilizations since ages. From the dawn of humankind to the medieval ages and till the modern 21st century human beings have changed a lot.
Through learning and acquiring knowledge throughout the centuries, we have come so far. Knowledge gathered by learned experiences inspires minds to create new ideas that further lead our generation in the future. The following article aims to explore the psychology of knowledge and how it affects our developmental process throughout a lifetime.
1. How knowledge impacts on our mental abilities
Cognition is defined as all the mental processes that place in the human mind. It means acquiring, processing, understanding, and using knowledge in our favor. Knowledge greatly influences our mental development in various ways throughout our lives.
A) Problem Solving:
With knowledge, we can improve our problem-solving skills in life. It is obvious that the more knowledge one has, the more information a person can use to form a solution to a problem in life. More knowledge helps develop mental strategies and helps form new unique approaches to solving complex problems.
B) Memory:
Knowledge is related to memory, vast knowledge allows us to rehearse information again and again and by learning new information every time, our brain develops a stronger memory to value that piece of information. Based upon our previous information new knowledge can further strengthen our base and help to boost our memory regarding different things.
C) Critical Thinking:
Knowledge helps gain deeper insight into basic information in life. The deeper the clarity about topics the clearer the information gets in learning. It helps us form enhanced thinking skills in life that cause us to differentiate between right and wrong sources of information, making informed decisions in life.
D) Creativity:
Knowledge enhances our learning capacity, boosts memory, and promotes creativity in our approach to things. Knowledge provides new ideas, thoughts, and concepts to flourish in the mind. We tend to learn how to combine our knowledge with new ideas while solving a problem or developing things. The creative approach in life is indicative of divergent thinking or thinking outside the box when our doing something.
2. Knowledge helps in regulating our Emotions:
Knowledge can greatly impact our emotions and emotional intelligence in life. As we continue to learn and grow, we humans develop a sense of intelligence. This allows us to promote harmonious interpersonal relationships and helps us find ways towards resilience.
A) Emotional Regulation:
Knowledge helps us to maintain our emotions and how to control them better. There are moments in our life that test our patience and tolerance with better Knowledge we can learn to cope with difficulties and methods to channel our emotions in a healthy manner. It allows us to understand feelings and thoughts better and prompts us to make rightful choices in accordance with our best results.
B) Empathy:
A wide range of knowledge about worldly affairs such as learning about diverse cultures, races, concepts about humanity, hardships of people, etc. can help us the power of empathy. Empathy is an important part of human emotions that shapes our behavior and makes us better human beings in society. It helps us understand the needs, thoughts, and emotions of others and how to channel our own emotions with respect to other people.
C) Emotional Resilience:
Knowledge helps to develop resilience in a person’s life. Emotional resilience is something people learn with age and experience and knowledge are another factor that helps in this. Experiencing negative experiences in life and dealing with challenges must be seen as an opportunity for personal growth. A better learning mindset equipped with knowledge can help to adapt to changes in life.
3. Knowledge helps in developing our identity:
Knowledge plays an important role in human development in terms of developing our identity in life.
A) Identity Formation:
Knowledge helps people to develop a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. It helps shape the perspective of a person and allows them to develop their own set of identities based on their learning.
B) Socialization:
As humans cannot survive without socialization and interaction with people knowledge helps build and support such interactions that stand as the base of a flourishing society. Forming good relations between nations and people is important for the development of society that is guaranteed with shared knowledge and values.
C) Lifetime of Learning:
Learning new knowledge is a lifelong opportunity. There can be no limit to knowledge in terms of age and capacity. Lifelong learning allows personal development and growth in life that goes on throughout our lifetime.
In the field of psychology, the relationship knowledge in the mind is multi-dimensional and dynamic. Learning and knowledge go hand in hand, learning improves knowledge and further strengthens it, and with knowledge, our multiple skills in life are enhanced. Knowledge is the cornerstone of civilization that supports all kinds of development in various fields such as technology, science, healthcare, lifestyle, etc. The pursuit of knowledge shapes and maintains our identity as a person, society, and the nation as a whole.