If All Knowledge Is Free, Why Do We Need to Pay for It
Tags: watercooler, healthydebate
Published: 2021-01-02 03:06:33

Please warn, first, I am only writing down truly my thoughts and beliefs here. There is no need to seek evidence or substantiate it. But I believe, it will be a positive thing for the readers. Second, let us try to be real in the end.

# A Background

One of my classmates asked me when the sun began to stand proudly lighting up the trees and campus buildings, igniting the spirits of the rest of us, and passing through the gaps in the windows of the rooms where we devoted ourselves to studying computer science. With his right hand pointing upwards, a friend of ours asked me as I stood up for a brief presentation of our project, starting to open his mouth. Accompanied by an assumption, he began to create a stir. You see, we studied at a university for prospective educators in Indonesia. Therefore, the question "*If all knowledge is free, why do we need to pay for it?*" had made us think head over heels.

Absolutely, this is a question I have been asking myself before these days come. In the end, it was really troublesome for us, especially me who had to sit down trying to answer it. Thankfully, I have a strategy in place to make it clearer. Let us talk about the *if* and look for the truth behind it. Then, gently, we will best answer the *why*.

# If All Knowledge Is Free

For me and people who believe in God, and hope to die in faith, we agree that everything in this world belongs to God. Including nothing but all knowledge taught to us, all the way provided for us, all the guidance given to us and all facilities dedicated for us to make it all happen.

God has gathered and sent everyone with their respective talents to make this world better place to live in. All generations of people have donated their bricks to build the beautiful world to date. We do not have to think hard and work hard again, and again, of whatsoever awesome people have done.

![Alt Text](https://dev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/i/d1y61h0vnf7wnrhtjtef.png)

The scene from the Dr. Stone's comic above (from [dr-stone.fandom.com](https://dr-stone.fandom.com/wiki/)) in itself has told us how efforts of experts from different generations have come together for just one innovation. And there are countless innovations today. Every people understood each other very well that there was no way they could do it alone.

All they have done is learn from others and most importantly learn from nature. Thankfully, God, the Creator of All Things, the King of Kings, never asks for neither payment nor credit for everything He gives: the nature and all the wonderful people. That is how it got free. Not _if_, but _sure_.

# Why Do We Need to Pay for It

God is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. He always praised the doers of good and rewarded them. While He makes us choose how we want to live.

Apart from the accepted or not, we all know that good will always exist if maintained. On the other hand, there is no kindness without doers. To continue to spread goodness, we need to meet the needs of our daily lives. Because that in itself is also a virtue. How can someone teach goodness without being able to offer kindness to himself? Meaning there is no chance of being completely free.

Have you considered how long it will take to write a book? _"Essentially, the length of time it takes can be anywhere from two months to 7 months (or even longer!) depending on how often you write and how many words you write per session."_—Chandler Bolt at [self-publishingschool.com](https://self-publishingschool.com/how-long-does-it-take-to-write-a-book/).

How about writing a blog post? _"During a 2019 survey of bloggers it was found that 17 percent of respondents spent approximately one to two to three hours on an average post. A total of 19 percent of responding bloggers spent more than six hours on a typical blog post."_—J. Clement at [statista.com](https://www.statista.com/statistics/314371/blogging-time-average-post-duration/).

Even to write a quality book for many types of readers in the world, a writer sometimes must spends his life traveling around the world, making a list of contexts, gaining related insights, studying other people's perspectives, gathering various human experiences, and so on.

Life itself is not free. Each business is considered on its merits. Do not reproach any longer for commercialisation. That is how it got the charge. Not _why_, but _sure_.