The Knowledge Fallacy — How Books Fool You (and I Love Reading Books)

Simply put the Knowledge Fallacy is that intellectual understanding is not enough. It just ain’t.

Smart is a tool (among other things.) One in the kit. And not enough on it’s own.

Other tools include:

• action
• repetition and experience
• other people
• authenticity
• soft skills of all kinds
• emotional strength
• all kinds of other emotional stuff
• the ineffable

The Knowledge Fallacy — Intellectual Understanding is not Enough.

So obvious, you say, why write a blog post?

‘Cause smart folks often really on that strength to the exclusion of other things. People in general often identify their one strength, whatever that is, and ride that one bike across all terrain through every storm and pleasant day for every purpose and to every destination.

Intellectual prowess is a great strength, but not all you need, even in hyper intellectual pursuits. Wanna get a PhD and become a great teacher? You need more than just a high IQ. Good teaching is far more than knowledge of data.

Knowledge of strategy is necessary but not sufficient to be a great player. You may need the ability to focus, remain calm, bounce back, and persevere.

Running a marathon requires more than intellectual understanding of the training plan. What drives you? What prevents injury? Will you eat? What supports you?

Knowing may be the flour, but you need a lot more than that to bake a cake.

A book on grit won’t make you grittier. A book on happiness won’t make you happier. A book on goals won’t achieve them for you.

And, hey, in fact, knowing the Knowledge Fallacy is necessary, but not sufficient.