Knowledge is Power

I believe in this statement, but think it has changed meaning throughout time.

Before the Reformation, the church had all the power because they could and had the texts (Bible) to read.  People had to rely on the church figures for their moral conscious and there was no way for them to check what the church was saying.

It was not until someone doubted this sole authority that things began to change.  Martin Luther chose to fight against the Catholic church and put power through knowledge, into the hands of the people.  He fought to translate the bible in German so more people could read it.  Why did the church fight him?  Because they knew they would lose their power source.

Today, knowledge is so accessible to us through the internet, it has become a different kind of knowledge that means power.  It has become more about how to use the knowledge and how to make meaning of knowledge that is important.  We have an information overload, we can do an internet search in seconds.  But it has become more important to realize what information you are looking for. Schools are being questioned because many things students learn, they say they can just google in seconds.  This is true, but schools should be teaching things you cannot learn on the internet- critical thinking, analyzing, and making connections.  To me, this has become even more important in this world of information overload.