Knowing Isn't Doing
“For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing” (Rom 7:19).
Even if most of us do not use the word “akrasia,” we all have experienced this weakness of will.
Philosophers have discussed it at least since the time of Plato, but that doesn't mean we're closer to doing the good we want to do and avoiding the evil we do not want to do.
And I'm not going to solve this issue in a one-minute video!
Knowing isn't enough, but that doesn't mean that knowledge is unimportant.
We can learn what works for other people. We can see the impact of our bad habits. We can examine what gets in the way of our doing what’s good for us.
We can then use that knowledge to try to create environments where we are far more likely to do what it is we know that we should do.
We don't simply know ourselves into becoming new people. We habit ourselves into new people. We are what we repeatedly do.
Knowledge can play a role, but knowing isn't doing. Only doing is doing.