Knowledge

Eve partook of the tree of knowledge of good and evil and thus followed a consequence. The consequence was knowledge, or being able to experience the evil of the earth, but ultimately being able to experience the good as well. When Faustus is first deciding whether or not to take the plunge, he is presented with knowledge that he never before knew. Mephostophilis tells him of the bliss of heaven and, he tells him of the endless torment that awaits him in hell. He commits and is told the location of heaven and hell, along with much more of the cosmos and so on. He gains all this knowledge but yet his desire to be regarded drives him further. The means by which we acquire knowledge and then what we do with it determines how knowledgeable we really are. Faustus took the short cuts he wanted it all at once and did not want to wait. Once he had control of this knowledge he sought after personal gain and recognition. This happens all the time, exploitation of individuals, genetically mutating animals and even issues on the political level such as Guantanamo bay. This all required knowledge, for example someone figured out that if they exploiting children in small factories across the world they could turn a larger profit. Chickens are being mutated so they have four breasts and barely develop heads and feathers, so meat is up and clean cost are down. Guantanamo Bay, Obama was going to shut it down as soon as he became President and said that it was one of Bush’s mistakes. It’s still in operation so when Obama became President he learned what was going on there and realized he couldn’t close it. From Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility”. Faustus did not exude responsibility and I think there are many who are foolish with the knowledge they have.