Page 47 - Hull's School Yearbook 2018-2019

There is, of course, much more to 'knowledge' and 'understanding'. Let's imagine that you have just taken A-level Biology and that you have gained a deeper understanding of the environment. You now know quite a lot about how ecosystems function, perhaps enough to give an interesting talk. Perhaps this has given you something like a passion for learning. Passion is not a thought, it is an emotion and a great helper when it comes to deepening understanding. And how about your experience of hot, dry summers, warm winters, clogged motorways, packed airports, polluted air, nights that are no longer dark and the incessant groundswell of noise that surrounds us. All this is neither intellectual nor emotional, but physical, or, as scientists would say, empirical. When knowledge is related to experience, it leads to deeper understanding. It may also give rise to more emotion than just the love of learning. Perhaps it has given you a sense of alarm. Or is it the sense of comfort of those who feel that global warming is a myth? Understanding has further implications, it may become a practical commitment. This happens, for instance, when the belief in global warming turns in to a profound change of habits, a preference for bicycles and public transport, a reluctance to book unnecessary flights, a willingness to pay a bit more for clothes made in an environment friendly way. It may even turn into a political commitment.
An acquaintance of mine, Prof. Nicolas Gruber, who teaches at the Zürich ETH and frequently appears in the media as one of Switzerland's authorities on climate change, greatly impresses me. He is certain that global warming is happening and has made it his declared aim for Switzerland to become global leader in environmental protection and environmental technology. There can be no doubt about his views and his political visions. However, he will listen politely and with genuine interest to anyone who holds different views. And if he had to, I am certain that he would even listen politely to Donald Trump. I would tend to think that this is a sign of profound understanding, the understanding of a true expert who knows so much that he also knows about the limits of his knowledge, and, the limits of his understanding. His strong views are balanced by respect, tolerance and an open mind. He has reached a point where he is able to gain from his opponents, to profit from his rivals and learn something even from the most unlikely people.
This is perhaps the point where understanding may undergo a mysterious quantum leap and turn into creativity and innovation. Sadly, academic efforts alone will not get us there. What then does?
Let's consider for a moment a completely different approach to the Hull's School motto, to knowledge and understanding. Aldous Huxley, the author of 'Brave New World', has the following to say:
‘Knowledge is acquired when we succeed in fitting a new experience into the system of concepts based upon our old experiences. Understanding comes when we liberate ourselves from the old and so make possible a direct, unmediated contact with the new, the mystery, moment by moment, of our existence. The new is given on every level of experience - given perceptions, given emotions and thoughts, given states of unobstructed awareness, given relationships with things and persons. The old is our homemade system of ideas and word patterns. It is the stock of finished articles fabricated out of the given mystery by memory and analytical reasoning, by habit and the automatic associations of accepted notions. Knowledge is primarily a knowledge of these finished articles. Understanding is primarily direct awareness of the raw material. Knowledge is always in terms of concepts and can be passed on by means of words or other symbols. Understanding is not conceptual, and therefore cannot be passed on. It is an immediate