In this narrative, “off the ground” behavior refers to actions that are unfounded or lack substantial productivity. Some people may feel that society and the existing value system have misled them, but in reality they are not contributing to the creation of new knowledge or ideas. On the other hand, people who stack boxes are engaged in the actual act of intellectual production. What they produce may duplicate existing knowledge, but the attempt to construct something new is itself valuable.
This story shows the cycle of intellectual production and how it enriches the whole body of knowledge of society. Just as boxes are not exactly the same, but differ slightly, so new ideas and knowledge have their own uniqueness. These minor differences come together to form the basis for more advanced intellectual production. In other words, intellectual production is a process of adding a new stone to past knowledge and deepening collective understanding.
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The person who piles boxes and the person who climbs up to the boxes piled by others and takes the box at the top and throws it down and the box thrown down falls to the ground, so it does not exist as high up as it was originally. The person who is thankful for the novelty of the box that fell to the ground. In order to be appreciated by those who are grateful, those who do not produce anything but take a box and throw it, imitating those who take a box and throw it, but the amount of those who are grateful is small, so in most cases, they do not understand. Because they are not grounded, they do not appreciate that they are not appreciated for such ungrounded throwing down of boxes. We assume the world is on the wrong side, but essentially we are not creating new knowledge. He is merely an intellectual consumer who is not intellectually producing, while those who pile up are intellectually producing. However, what they produce is often identical to what others have already produced. The act of piling a new box without standing on top of what others have already done is, at large, to pile even it while riding toward the giant who is more likely to be the box to sculpt, since humans have piled many boxes in their long history up to now. Piling boxes has its own value. For that is what intellectual production is all about. The boxes are almost never exactly the same, but slightly different. By gathering together things that look slightly different but are not the same, they become materials for intellectual production in the layers above, the foundation of more advanced intellectual production.
This text tells a metaphorical story about people’s behaviors and values, especially as they relate to the creation and consumption of knowledge. It provides insight into the relationship between intellectual producers and consumers and how their respective actions affect society and the system of knowledge as a whole. The story depicts those who stack boxes as producers of knowledge and builders of new ones. On the other hand, the act of taking and throwing boxes may symbolize those who leverage existing knowledge and accomplishments but do not create new value through them.
At the heart of the story is that intellectual production is an act of creating new value, even if it is based on already existing knowledge. It emphasizes the process by which a body of knowledge is constructed by slightly different “boxes” and these differences come together to form a new layer of knowledge. Through this metaphor, the authors emphasize the ongoing value of intellectual production and the importance of individual contributions in the construction of new knowledge and understanding.
The story also examines social perceptions and valuations of value. The theme is the relationship between the direct “producers” of knowledge and the “consumers” who merely consume existing knowledge, and how those actions are understood and valued by society. Ultimately, this narrative offers profound insights into the nature of intellectual activity and the complexities of social perception and valuation.
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Attempt to clean up the opening sentence.
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Assume that the world’s side is at fault for not appreciating the box being thrown down.
The person who piles is intellectually producing. However, the act of piling new boxes without standing on top of what others have already piled is likely to be a duplicate box, since humans have piled many boxes in their long history up to now.
The boxes are never exactly the same, but are slightly different. The collection of slightly different, similar, but not the same things becomes the material for intellectual production on a higher layer. It becomes the foundation for more advanced intellectual production.
Workers who pile up towers of knowledge build the keystone of intellectual production. They further humanity’s understanding by adding new boxes to the existing mountain of knowledge. However, not every box is completely unique. In many cases, they are similar to boxes that have been stacked in the past, and the act of stacking new ones is often based on past accomplishments. Still, each box is slightly different, and these subtle differences aggregate to form a new layer of knowledge.
On the other hand, those who climb boxes stacked by others, take the boxes from the top and throw them take a different path. Their act may attract temporary freshness and attention, but these boxes fall to the ground again and lose their original heights. When no recognition is given to this act, they often blame the values of the world and society. However, this criticism reflects the reality that they themselves are not generating new knowledge or ideas.
The old adage of “riding on the shoulders of giants” epitomizes this process. We stand on the foundations laid by our predecessors and can look further afield. We rarely stack exactly the same boxes, but boxes that are similar and dissimilar come together to form the material for new intellectual production. These minor differences play a valuable role in the larger flow of knowledge advancement.
Finally, the parable of the ant, spider, and bee illustrates that just as different organisms live in different ways, people also have different ways of building up, sharing, and deploying knowledge. Ants work steadily, spiders cast their own webs, and bees work together as a group to build something. Similarly, there are diverse approaches to intellectual production, each with its own valuable contribution.
This story offers profound insights into the creation and sharing of knowledge and ideas, and how they contribute to social progress.
The Parable of the Ants, Spiders and Bees In light of this.
The words of Francis Bacon in his Novum Organum, Aphorism 95, offer profound insights into how knowledge is acquired and processed. Empiricists (ants) focus on gathering knowledge from the real world, while rationalists (spiders) develop logic from within the self. However, it is the method of the bee that Bacon most appreciates. This is the method that produces new knowledge (honey) by gathering knowledge from the outside (nectar) and transforming and digesting it in one’s own internal processes.
The term “digestion” is used here as a metaphor. It refers to the process of not merely gathering knowledge, but understanding it and integrating it into one’s own thinking and knowledge system. Through this process, the information gathered is transformed into deeper understanding and practical knowledge.
Bacon’s words offer an important insight into how knowledge should be handled. That is, it is not enough to simply gather information from outside sources; we must internalize it as our own, understand it, and then use it to create something new.
Another quote from Bacon, “A book that should be well chewed and digested,” underscores this idea. In reading and learning, it is important not only to receive information superficially, but also to think deeply, analyze it critically, and absorb it as part of one’s own knowledge and understanding.
From this perspective, the proper “digestion” of external information is as important, if not more so, in the process of intellectual production as simply gathering knowledge. Through the process of digestion, we can transform the knowledge we have gathered into something more valuable and generate new ideas and theories. In this way, intellectual growth and creation are encouraged.
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