Knowledge vs. Understanding

Few days ago, I found out the difference between Knowledge and Understanding from Oprah Show, haha. Knowledge is like, “Exercise is good for Health”, where everyone knows it but not many people actually did it. Understanding is like, “I am obese and dying of heart failure anytime because I didn’t exercise”, now that is understanding with personal experience and emotional attachment.

A lot of time I feel like working hard, exercise, eat healthy food, be nice to my parents, but I didn’t quite make it. I have the Knowledge to know that these things need to be done for my own good, but I just didn’t feel it. I lack the personal experience and emotional attachment. If I am striving to pay my next rent (Emotional Pain), then I would work very hard to earn money. If my health deteriorate and I fell very ill (Painful Experience), then I would eat healthy and exercise frequently. Some people call this 犯贱 (I think we are), but it is actually personal experience and emotional attachment.

Last time Tang asks me to do some charity, I told her I can donate some money but I won’t actually felt the joy. I won’t felt that I helped someone, nor feel any good or any difference about it. I know it is a good thing to do, and that’s it, I don’t feel anything. I told her that I need to contribute directly, get involved in the process and then only would I be able to felt the joy, felt that I am actually doing charity. I think I need to go through the Understanding process, to experience it and to have some emotional attachment.

So, what can we do to make ourselves Understand our Knowledge before everything is too late, to appreciate before we lost it (or almost lost it)? I am not quite sure how, but I can think of a few example.

The doctor would show the actual lung condition of a normal lung (healthy) and a smoker’s lung (broken with black colour). He will instill emotion (fear and worry) into smoker to make him understand, or force him to touch and feel the broken lung to stimulate experience. Like when someone dear to us pass away, we would learn for a moment to appreciate the people around us. How to sustain the Understanding is another matter. Perhaps it is self determination, or perhaps it is the impact of the experience, or the level of emotion attachment.

To make us Understand our Knowledge, we must always feel it one way or another.