Scientia potentia est

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Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Francis Bacon

The famous phrase scientia potentia est is a Latin maxim "For also knowledge itself is power" stated originally by Francis Bacon in Meditationes Sacrae (1597), which in modern times is often paraphrased as "knowledge is power." ^[1]. The phrase implies that with knowledge or education one's potential or abilities in life will certainly increase. It is also used as a justification for a reluctance to share information as some form of advantage can be gained through the use or manipulation of knowledge. It is possible that Bacon was paraphrasing Proverbs 24:5: "A wise man has great power, and a man of knowledge increases strength." Another possible meaning for this phrase can be found in philosophical idealism - if the world exists solely as the content of consciousness, then knowledge itself can be used to directly manipulate the content of reality.

[edit] See also

• Cognitive elite
• Intelligence (information gathering)
• Information warfare
• Technology

[edit] Sources and further reading

• Flyvbjerg, Bent. Rationality and Power: Democracy in Practice. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998. [1]
• Flyvbjerg, Bent. "What is Rationality? What is Power?" [2]
• Haas, Ernst B. When Knowledge is Power: Three Models of Change in International Organizations. University of California, 1990. ISBN 0-520-06646-4.
• Higdon, Lee. "Knowledge is power." University Business, September 2005.
  • Higdon argues that because the U.S. economy is a knowledge economy the decline in enrollment of non-U.S. students in U.S. universities "has serious long-term implications for the United States." [3]
• "Knowledge is power (But only if you know how to acquire it)." The Economist, May 8, 2003. [4]
  • A report on corporate knowledge management.
• Peterson, Ryan. "Michel Foucault: Power/Knowledge." Colorado State University Resource Centre for Communications Studies. [5]
  • An exploration of what Peterson terms Foucault's "new model of the relations of power and knowledge" that contradicts Bacon.
• Powers, Rod. "Knowledge is power in the military." U.S. Military: The Orderly Room. [6]
  • An anecdotal argument that in the military, a person with the most rank is not always the one in charge of a given situation, but that the person with the "real power" is the person who knows the regulations.
• Trump, Donald J. "Use Knowledge to Your Advantage." Trump University. [7]
  • Trump argues that knowledge is one of the main secrets to success.

[edit] References