For thousands of years, the search for truth and perfection has been the object of human fascination. This quest is arguably the reason for our existence, but is it in vain? People are constantly discovering new and seemingly exciting facts about the things with which they share the universe. Quite often, these discoveries prove to have an incredible impact on society. Plato believed that knowledge of the good, of the unchanging, everlasting truth is the highest form knowledge. In today�s society though, such an ideal is considered impractical and at times irrelevant. Most people are more concerned about knowing things that result in self-preservation and personal gain.

    Consider a homeless man, forced from his previous place of residence because of physical or mental illness. This person struggles on a daily basis just to obtain food and shelter. As a tragic result, he develops an alcoholic dependency. This dependency is now just as important to him as his need for food and shelter. Many people may perceive his life to be far more challenging than that of the average citizen, but that depends on the perspective from which you view his situation. He awakens every morning with very few things on his mind. Most importantly, he�s hungry, dirty, and in desperate need of a drink, so what he wishes to accomplish during the day is a tiny list of simple tasks when compared to the busy lives of most average citizens of the world. He needs to locate food, which requires knowledge of areas, which have an abundance of unused or unwanted food. He needs to know where to find bathrooms, or places where he is able to perform necessary bodily functions, and finally, he requires a means to obtain alcohol, which may actually be the most important item on his list. As many homeless people know, an inexpensive, but harmful alternative to conventional liquor is the alcohol found in many common household products, like hairspray and mouthwash. What is important to note about his daily requirements is the lack of any behavior, which may be in the interest of the greater good, or for that matter, anyone but himself. This man�s short list of simple tasks is difficult enough to occupy the entirety of his day, so he concentrates on possessing knowledge of only those things that will help him achieve his simple goals. Even if he did have time though, he wouldn�t consider partaking in any activity that may benefit the same society that put him on the street.

    Similarly, a successful businesswoman would find little interest in knowledge of the good. To become successful in today�s competitive workplace requires years of commitment, dedication, and perseverance. Usually, the amount of a success a person will experience is directly proportional to the amount of personal sacrifice they are willing to make. For an individual that has spent the greater part of their life trading their own happiness for success, it would be difficult to imagine taking the time out of their busy schedule to devote to pursuing the best interest of the global community. A businesswoman that would consider such a task may be accused of acting inefficiently, or having poor judgement. In the world of business, there is only emphasis on the pursuit of knowledge that may lead to a contract extension, or promotion. Sometimes things are done which end up to be in the interest of the greater good, but these occurrences are most often the side effect of a self-advancement strategy aimed at a group of influential or powerful company figures.

    Conversely, a small percentage of scholars and researchers work in pursuit of the ultimate good knowledge. They delight in the pleasure of discovering new concepts, and procedures that positively influence the lives of mankind as a whole. Those involved in fields such as ecology and mathematics are but a few of the select members of society who chose to forsake financial abundance. Often earning less than those working in more profit-driven fields, this breed of citizen is of the vast minority in today�s society. Those who do become well known for their contributions are often visibly detached from the materialistic ways of the world when compared to the most famous wealthy success stories. More importantly they are content with their position in society, which would greatly excite Plato, and others with similar notions of what the highest form of knowledge should be. This behavior when viewed by most people of the world is without question, uninteresting or of little value when they have greater opportunity do work which is less challenging and more monetarily rewarding.

    It is clear that self-sustenance and personal gain are the driving forces that cause most people to amass knowledge. It is easy to discount the efforts of the few who choose to work for everyone rather than for themselves and quite difficult to condemn those that illustrate the self-centered nature of humankind. Before we pass judgement on others though, we should shift the focus of our analysis toward our own actions and motivating forces. Without considering the details of human behavior we may lose sight of one incredibly important fact. People are primarily social animals who have a fundamental need to be accepted by other people. The state of the world today is a sad but true reality, even worse are the criterion that we set for judging a person�s quality and value. People reward others for rewarding themselves when they should be rewarding themselves for rewarding others, and like this conclusion, the reason for it�s existence is equally simple to understand.