When I see something, I don't "see" it, my mind perceives it. When you see a tree, you associate your interpretation of it with the symbolic word "tree". But, what is the meaning of the symbols. Is there knowledge behind the symbols? Language is nothing but phonetic symbology.
The written word is nothing but a symbol of the spoken word, but with less knowledge. You lose the inflection, tone, pace, and emotion of the spoken word when it is written. You lose the subtle intonations that lend meaning.
Behind the symbology is the knowledge. We are not taught knowledge in school. We are taught the symbols and how to manipulate them, but not the meanings behind them. We are taught the symbology, not the knowledge. It is the search for knowledge that eludes us.
You will never have knowledge about everything just as you can never know everything. But you should take the time to develop knowledge about those things that are important to you.
From my life before law, numbers were important to me. There are a few that I took the time to seek out and some that came to me by accident.
Take the symbol "6". Why that shape? What is the story behind it? Did you know that it is the first perfect number in that is multiples added together are equal to 6 (1x2x3 = 1+2+3)? It is even (what is the knowledge behind that?). It had mystical importance to certain civilizations that first developed mathematics(why 60 minutes?).
Or 12.... Why 12 hours in 1/2 a day? Why 24 hours in a day? What did 12 mean to the civilization that divided the day as such. (hint: They counted the knuckles on the hand with the thumb. Four fingers with three knuckles each is 12. Two hands is 24). But does anything lie behind that?
The combination (3,4,5) has a lot behind it if you are willing to look....
But have I discovered what is really behind the examples above? Not really. I've never looked behind things before, only to the surface. The study of law has made me start looking behind the symbols to the meaning and knowledge that is there. Why are laws? What are laws? Why laws at all? What is the meaning of something like property? What lies behind the laws? When I understand that, I will start to become knowledgeable in the law.
Much as we want to we will never know the law without getting the true knowledge behind it. This is what separates truly magnificent lawyers from the run of the mill. Not to say that you can't be a good lawyer without that knowledge, but the to be great you need a deeper understanding that is taught.
The knowledge is what separates the technician from operator.
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