Competency

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Competency

2006-02-18T20:26:00

I was reading Gopal's Blog entry on `Competency' and found it interesting. Here is a snippet:

He who knows and knows that he knows, 
he is a master; follow him.

He who knows and knows not that he knows, 
he is asleep; wake him.

He who knows not and knows that he knows not, 
he is a student; teach him.

He who knows not and knows not that he knows 
not, he is a fool; shun him.

The modern day mantra seems to be `looking competent' rather than `being competent'. Humility has almost become a vice and even little kids don't like saying `I don't know'. The philosophy nowadays is: it doesn't matter what you know - what really matters is what you make others feel you know - there is a Malayalam word which describes this - `jaada'. Not long back, `jaada' was frowned upon and people who sported it were considered `superficial'. But nowadays, students tell me that you can't live without it!