Collectors Fallacy 04/04/23
To know about something is merely be aware of its existence. Knowing something is information integrated in a knowledge system. It is that information coming into contact with, transforming and being transformed by the encounter with other pieces of information, thoughts or knowledge. Collecting does not transform us and always postpones learning and transformation to the future. Collecting creates debt that we promise to pay back in some future that never arrives. The collection allow us to imagine ourselves in the near future as a person who has read and understood the collected material. This makes us feel good. We like that person.
This is a first step to conquer Collector's Fallacy: to realize that having a text at hand does nothing to increase our knowledge. We have to work with it instead. Reading alone won't suffice: we have to create notes, too, to create real, sustainable knowledge.