Knowledge vs Skills

Knowledge vs Skills

Studying at university got us used to thinking that there is no fundamental difference between theory and practice. No, of course, you understand that they are not the same thing. But you do not see a fundamental difference. And there is one.

Most people put an equals sign between “I know” and “I can do.” What about you?

How about examples like these?

1. I know that smoking is harmful, but I smoke.
2. I know that McDonald’s is harmful, but I eat fast food.
3. I know the traffic rules, but I cannot drive.
4. I know that running is beneficial, but I do not run in the mornings.

Very often people take “I know” for “I can do.” A good example is the traffic rules. If a person knows the rules and knows how to drive, does that mean they can drive? No. And if they think they know? Well, then why would they need an instructor when they already “know” everything and can do everything?

If you are sure you already know everything, most likely you will not learn anything else. And if you are sure you can do everything, you will not learn anything else. The thought will not even occur to you. Which means you will miss all the wonderful opportunities to learn something.

At an ordinary university you are fed only knowledge, and you will have to acquire abilities/skills on your own. What’s that? At your university it was not only theory but also practice? OK, if you are a physics student, try to build a working model of a steam engine with an efficiency of at least 30%. You surely know how, but most likely you cannot do it, right?

Are you a chemist? Make black smokeless gunpowder from improvised materials. You kind of know how, but cannot do it? A mathematician? Set up the equation for the flight of an artillery shell. Do not forget to account for the shell’s shape. Material points do not fly in real life. Just as there are no spherical horses.

A biologist? Isolate penicillin. It is mold; it occurs on melons. Know how—great! Can you do it?

An economist? Build a forecast for oil price growth. Built it? Now turn $2,000 into $200,000 in a year based on your forecast. Have you ever traded on FOREX? With real money? Or do you only know what it is?

International economics? Great! Where should I open an offshore company? In Hong Kong, Ireland, or the US? Why? Even if you know, you are unlikely to be able to do it right away, because you have never done it before. And you do not even have a clue how it is done.

They did not teach you this at university? Why do we assign tasks on topics you have not covered? Because these are tasks from real life. That is practice, and everything you most likely studied at university—spherical horses, perfect competition—does not exist in real life.

And what about marketers—did we forget them? Where is the best place to spend $500 so that as many people as possible learn about this course? On advertising? But not only has classic advertising become outdated, so has the concept of the Unique Selling Proposition, which most likely was presented to you at university almost as a cure-all for every problem.

Forget that you “know” something. Ask yourself: what useful thing can you do? What are people willing to pay money for—enough money for you?

So, friends, let’s say thank you to such a wonderful course as JavaRush. Thanks to it, you will not only know how to program, but also be able to program. And you will also be able to get a job and, in a couple of years, earn a decent salary. One that, we hope, will be enough for a comfortable life.

Let’s repeat once more: it does not matter what you know. The only thing that matters is what useful things you can do for other people—things they are willing to pay you for. The sooner you understand this, the better.