What is knowledge? : Do not show off the "knowledge", especially when nothing is known.

When I was about 14, I showed off in front of my classmates what I read from a popular public science book, A Brief History of Time. That book is about the images of space and time. Now, after taking physics courses in college, I can understand a few of the physical concepts in that book, and I can actually "know" some, but not all, physical images described in that book. The physical images I learned from that book at the age of 14 were, in a sense, epistemic luck for me, for I was not able to give reasons or justifications when facing the question--"How do you know?". So, strictly speaking, I knew nothing written in the book at 14.

To show off only brought me a satisfaction coming from the delusion that I seemed to "know" more than others. Though such a desire might be a stimulus for me to read when I was a child, its superficial nature makes it impossible to sustain any extensive involvement in a subject. It might also blind me from the true impulse of learning--curiosity. It can kill an inquisitive mind.