26 July 2013

Head Knowledge Is Hollow



Head knowledge really is hollow. When I read works from those reputed to be the best scholars of our day, I can easily discern whether their insights are anchored in their own real-world experiences, or whether they're merely cribbed from the testimonies of others (academic or not), or even just a set of intellectual associations thought-up during those long hours in front of their computer screens. Head knowledge is hollow. I bring my students to harvest the berries heavy on the branches of the brush around the University of Lethbridge, because those inside the buildings believe they get knowledge from reading about our kind of harvests... and head knowledge is hollow. I openly challenge those who protest for change, even though I may support their causes, because I see that any protest staged as an 'awareness campaign' is all head, and already hollow. Real knowledge is not cerebral. It's dispersed throughout the muscles and the sensorium. It's truly embodied. You can only give this to others by directing them into direct experiential encounters where such knowledge is known to derive from. A good teacher understands how to do this, well