08 Aug '15 07:24>1 edit
Originally posted by divegeesterIt is entirely possible that both are true.
OK I see; and theological metaphors are one expression of this human condition. It would be interesting to here sonhouse POV on is as he seems to me to believe that the human condition is derived from the theological metaphor and not, as you are proposing, the metaphor from the condition.
It is certainly true that controlling knowledge has been common practice in many societies and that religions have played a big part in exercising that control. There have been a number of cases of countries/individuals going against that trend and actively trying to disseminate knowledge through publishing and education so not everyone agrees with the idea of hoarding knowledge.
The modern world has relaxed the restrictions considerably largely because a good education is considered necessary in order to work, so a country will see the need to educate its populace in order to stay ahead of other countries. But countries still do try to keep knowledge to themselves and companies do too.
Possibly the greatest fear the US has today is that China is not only gaining economically, they are gaining in terms of information. They are not only getting knowledge from the US but are producing their own knowledge. Focus on the Chinese space program is really a focus on secret knowledge.
The current deal with Iran is all about keeping the secret knowledge of how to make nuclear weapons away from Iran. In this case the knowledge has clear significant consequences. However, the spread of knowledge of various types of weaponry, how to manufacture and effectively use them has had a huge impact on the world throughout history.
Success in the World Wars was all about the development of various types of knowledge and the timing of those developments. This week marks the 70th anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan an event that not only ended the Second World War but also had a major impact on the cold war that was to follow.