The acquisition of knowledge is the beginning of development and continual learning allows for greater development.

Yet the acquisition of knowledge alone, done not guarantee that any changes will take place. When we get to the articles on becoming, we will examine the blind alley of academic acquisition.

Before we discuss knowledge and learning, let us examine the folly of attempting to develop without acquiring knowledge. Throughout my life there have been a number of machines which were known as players and/or recorders. Record Players, Cassette Players, Laser Disc Players, CD Players, DVD Players, MP3 Players, not to mention all the various cartridge based game systems that have come and gone. These players had one thing in common, if you did not put something containing content into the machine, nothing happened.

If you did not put a record onto the platter of a record player, nothing happened, if you do not download an MPEG or similar audio file into an MP3 player, nothing happens. Somebody has to put content into the player. Even your radio or television requires somebody somewhere to produce content, if no one is broadcasting, then all you get is dead air. And you can't make a cellphone call if you have no bars.

Thus it is also with that part of the mind which is sometimes called the "conscience." The conscience is like a player, unless content is in the player nothing happens. From the day you were born, you have been acquiring information. Without regard for whether the information which we receive in our childhood is accurate or inaccurate, all humans possessing a healthy intellect acquire knowledge both by experiences and by teachings.

When you place a recording into an audio player, the sound which comes out is dependent upon what was recorded. If the original content was false, or defamatory or slanderous, then the sound which come out will be the equivalent. And so it is also with Conscience. The idea that one should "Let your conscience be your guide" fails to recognize the GIGO principle, that is "Garbage In, Garbage Out."

I have found the writings of Steven Alan Hassan on the topic of mind control quite interesting because they help the reader to understand one way in which changing the content changes the results. I also found his second book on "Releasing The Bonds" fascinating because it described the mental dependency which lasts even after one has left the mind control environment. Just as a recovering alcoholic, who has been sober for months or years, continues to battle chemical dependency, so also a person who has lived inside a mind control environment for an extended time, tends to also be affected by a similar dependency.

We must examine the content which is currently part of our mental landscape. Am I free to think for myself? How much of the content of my mental "player" have I acquired from other people without questioning or critiquing? How much of my content is responsible for my current condition? Are my disconnects or the dissonance which I am experiencing actually being caused by early childhood scripting?

In the next article we will examine different kinds of knowledge. Not all knowledge leads to self-development and not all knowledge provides a good metric for evaluating development.