2nd Issue Essay, Test in 4 Days, Knowledge makes things more complex

[Gravy924]

I could really use some feedback, even if its a one word "sux" =).

"As we acquire more knowledge, things do not become more comprehensible, but more complex and more mysterious

I would disagree with the speaker’s assertion that as we acquire more knowledge things become more complex and mysterious. The accumulation of knowledge, on both an aggregate and an individual level, has more often than not allowed us to understand more of the world, not less. And, while it can be said that advances in certain disciplines have made them impossibly hard for the average person to understand, these same advances have made the subject more comprehensible to those who study it in depth. Thus, it follows that the acquisition of knowledge fosters both societal and individual understanding.
Medicine is just one example of knowledge accumulation increasing comprehension on a large level over time. For example, Malaria, meaning “bad air” was thought to be something contracted through the respiratory system. It was also thought that the only defense to such a disease was by prayer or pure luck. It has since been discovered that Malaria is passed to humans through mosquitoes, and the use of a simple mosquito net can greatly lower infection rates. A similar example is that of Scurvy. Scurvy affected sailors for hundreds of years with its effects including loss of teeth and even death. The cause was later found to be a deficiency in Vitamin C. Through the discovery of Scurvy’s causes it did not become some abstract and mysterious thing, but instead was almost completely eradicated by such a simple cure as citrus. When looking at certain disciplines over a long period of time, rarely has the accumulation of knowledge resulted in those disciplines becoming vaguer. Instead, the knowledge gained sheds light on previously unknown facts.
One can also think of knowledge accumulation on a micro or individual level. In this setting too does knowledge accumulation lead to a better, not worse, understanding of issues. For example, in mathematics, each class that one takes is built upon previous knowledge and often incorporates a deeper understanding of the previous material. While the concepts taught at higher and higher levels of mathematics are harder than those taught at lower levels, the skills gained and those lower levels allow easier comprehension of complex ideas. A similar example is in literature classes and those generically termed “English.” While Dickens’ Great Expectations is much more complex and intricate than a children’s book, it is still much easier for a native English speaker with some experience in higher level literature to read Great Expectations than it is for a very young child to understand what is happening in the children’s book. The accumulation of knowledge on an individual level does not make things more complex and mysterious, instead it makes more complex things more comprehensible.
While one may point to counter examples, such as Einstein’s Theory of Relativity or Stephen Hawking’s description of the universe as examples of more knowledge leading to confusion, I disagree. For the average person, yes, the Theory of Relativity does make the idea of space and time infinitely more complicated. However, for well educated physicists, the Theory of Relativity is needed to explain many of the phenomena that come about when space and time are thought of as independent. So, for the physicist, the knowledge accumulated by Einstein and passed on makes his world more comprehensible. As comprehension and complexity are subjective attributes, one has to be sure not to compare apples and oranges when thinking of examples of knowledge accumulation and its effect on comprehension.
The accumulation of knowledge of human beings has been of the greatest outcomes of our ability to communicate. While some subjects, to average people, have become increasingly complex over time, the accumulation of knowledge has, on the whole, made various issues easier and easier to understand.