The line between knowledge and information is fast getting blurred. In the modern internet-driven society, it is common to come across young people who take it for granted that if something is not there on the Internet, it doesn’t exist, or is at least not worth knowing. The blur is not because information has upgraded itself. In fact, it is the other way round, with the definition of knowledge having undergone a transformation in the minds of many … mostly, but not exclusively, the youths.

Toggling between multiple windows on the laptop screen while also dealing with text messages, and with music pouring in through the earpiece with eyes also following the storyline on the television screen, the modern man — and, indeed, woman — is clicking, not thinking. And this phenomenon has been globally recognised which means that, for once, we are not dealing with something that is wrong specifically in the Pakistani context.

Come to think of it, how much of human knowledge is actually on the internet? Put this question on the internet and you will get a range of answers and a massive variety of comments, with people wondering what qualifies as ‘knowledge’ and how to measure its totality before moving on to work out the percentage of ‘knowledge’ online.

All these are valid questions, but one thing is for sure. Knowledge is something that is based on information duly processed by the mind and double-checked by one’s ability to see scattered bits of information in a certain context. At another level, it needs a bit of imagination and creativity as well. And this applies to human endeavour in every field of activity, including science. It was not for nothing that a man like Einstein famously stressed the primacy of imagination.

And for all this to happen, the human mind needs some space, some vacuum which is hard to have in this era of multi-tasking unless one takes a conscious step in that direction.

Those of you who have visited the famed archaeological remains at Taxila would have surely seen the meditation chambers atop a hill at what is arguably called the world’s first ‘university’ where ‘students’ used to come from far and wide to spend time with Buddhist monks and learn the art of inward reflection which was an integral component of their religious practice. This was more than two millennia ago.

Today, the descendants of these very monks are helping scientists at the cutting edge of technology in understanding what actually represents consciousness, or, in other words, when does the brain — a squidgy tissue weighing about 1,400 grams — becomes the mind, which is a conscious state of the brain to perceive the reality around it, like the blueness of the blue, the sweetness of the sugar and so on.

Meditation was preached by Siddhartha Gautama, better known as Gautam Budh or Mahatma Budh in our part of the world, as a religious form to connect with one’s own inner self. The ultimate aim of the technique was to turn the conscious mind in on itself and watch it in action; the ‘mind’ watching the functioning of the ‘brain’.

According to Buddha, such introspection has the potential to give insights into the nature of mind, reality and the mystery of consciousness. Some nine centuries after Buddha, Catholic Saint Augustine also identified self-awareness as a key aspect of consciousness. His rather charming statement, “I understand that I understand”, remains an item of history. From Hindu clerics to Muslim clergy, the practice of meditation has been part of the religious ritual. In certain cases (eg Prophet Ibrahim and Prophet Muhammad [PBUH]), meditation was practised even before its formal linkage with any religion. But that is beside the point.

The difference between information and knowledge, in ways more than one, is the difference between the brain and the mind. When one gets converted into the other is something that we will try to see next week. Come back … if you are not too busy clicking!

TAILPIECE: Last week in ‘The Shady World of IQ’, we had talked about the worth of IQ testing, quoting references that suggest that IQ scores between 70 and 120 mean a certain level, but beyond that, IQ ceases to be a meaningful marker.

Asad Siddiqi from Lahore has made an interesting observation that is worth sharing. Here he goes: “Persons with an IQ of 60 or below are deemed to be mentally deficient, having a level of intelligence comparable to that of a chimpanzee, and under the US legal and justice systems, they are said to have diminished or little responsibility for their actions, in particular for acts of crime.

“Thus IQ levels become a matter of life and death for individuals charged with crimes that carry the death penalty in the USA. In such cases, an accused with an IQ of 60 or below is not awarded the death sentence but is committed to psychiatric care. So, IQ levels are important in other ways too.”

But here is the bottom line: “In my opinion, persons seeking public office should also be subject to IQ testing”. Hopefully, the Election Commission of Pakistan is listening.

humair.ishtiaq@gmail.com