Knowledge-action gap

With multiple easier channels of information and knowledge brandishing around us, to attain awareness of sociopolitical phenomena is not an uphill task now. But translating information and knowledge into action to make awareness constructive and functional is still a holy grail for the people in general and the educated community in particular.

Sometimes, I join my friends in having a cup of tea in the evening at a roadside teastall. There, water is served in used bottles of mineral water. Despite my pointing it out to them many a time that the bottle is meant for a single use, even written on the bottle itself, they ignore my prodding to their claim of being educated citizens. They remain adamant about giving the cold shoulder to their responsibility of acting as per their knowledge and awareness.

The knowledge-action gap – where individuals, societies and governments fail to act in accordance with what they know – has become a defining paradox of our time. Despite access to vast information, political rhetoric and mounting crises, the world remains sluggish in translating knowledge into meaningful, sustained action. From climate change to public health and governance reform, the disconnect between understanding what needs to be done and actually doing it undermines progress.

Bridging the gorge between knowing and doing is critical if one wants to avoid stagnating and self-sabotage. Action shirkers live on 'Someday-Isle'. Our actions depend proportionately on the quality of information that we have gathered. Also, the snubbing frustration in getting instant gratification and rash results pushes actions and knowledge apart. Former US President John F Kennedy once remarked, "There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long-range risks of comfortable inaction."

The gap is burgeoning in the present times when a-click-away knowledge has made man lethargic. Moreover, the convenience whereby knowledge is gained makes it much harder to convert that knowledge into action. Today, man gets knowledge for the sake of knowledge, not to bring about change, which is usually harder and uncomfortable. There is an old Chinese saying, "To know and not to do, is not to really know."

It is a matter of common observation that washrooms of educational institutions, barring some elite ones, happen to be foul and filthy beyond words. Even the washrooms for teachers stand no exception. Similarly, washrooms at religious seminaries and mosques are horribly stinking and squalid. Though some of them are mostly used as public lavatories, those that are solely used by their permanent visitors are also disgusting. The lacuna between what is preached and what is practised can't be more prominent than this.

Our present education is divorced from the moral nurturing of learners. Parents, teachers and students all hanker after glitzy grades in exams. Moreover, the rift between actions and words of those who are vested with the responsibility of nurturing moral values continues to widen. Advice administered in the presence of knowledge-action gap fails to inspire the advised. It is said that practically successful people don't advise others as their actions are the epitome of inspiration.

This knowledge-action gap has spawned a modern lot of motivational speakers. Social media is supersaturated with the showreels and videos of these speakers. The knowledge-action discord is harder to be noticed in these speakers than the people around (parents, teachers and religious personalities). That's why they have gained currency.

The gap continues to expand along the hierarchical ascent. Our politicians promising jam tomorrow exploit the naivety and amnesia of the masses as they never honour their promises. The populist politicians and demagogues camouflage their reneging on promises through rabble-rousing.

The knowledge-action gap causes numerous psychological aberrations: inflated ego, the Dunning-Kruger effect, low self-esteem, narcissism, extremism and failure to entertain opposite opinions. The people with a knowledge-action gap happen to be haughtily judgemental of fellow humans. In short, the gap breeds antisocial and undemocratic mentalities.