Posted by Reilly Atkinson on October 23, 2000 at 19:11:49:

In Reply to: Re: The Potential for Knowledge Management in Conflict Management posted by Vaughn P Fox on October 21, 2000 at 22:20:53:

Esteemed Gentlemen -- This topic really gets to me at a very strong emotional level.

I certainly agree that knowledgeable people are almost always a great asset. But, then, so are men of action (persons of action?, who may or may not know much. And yes, even in dreadful bloody conflicts knowledgeable people may help mitigate some future damage. But the power of the misinformed or the ignorant sometimes is quite overwhelming; they don't want to know from knowledge of the more correct sort.

As a recent example of such power, consider the recent bull market and the dot com explosion. Wise and knowledgeable folks said all along that a market evaluation in the billions of a company with no profits was just plain looney. "Why, the equity money will just keep pouring in." Certainly many fashionable business intellectuals got swept up by the bulls, and left their knowledge at home. Man, were they all wrong - and rich at the same time.Sometimes it's experience rather than knowldege that pulls people up short.

I despair but recognize that human folly can be as big a player as human knowledge and common sense. Often the best you can hope for is a draw, no matter how much you know. But, in spite of my cynicism, I still try to fight the good fight, and applaud those that do also.

This is it for me on this one; the topic is too loaded for me.

Regards,
Reilly

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