Acharya Prashant explains that it is a sign of great health and something to be proud of if there are many things you do not know. If you know too much about the world, you will not have the time to know yourself. He critiques the kind of trivial knowledge, like that featured on quiz shows, stating that only a small fraction of it is of any real substance. He questions why one should even know such things. He imagines a wise person on the show's hot seat who, instead of answering, would ask the host, "Why should I know this?" He asserts that if a person knows such trivial things, they must be quite shameless, as a decent person would not be concerned with such matters. To illustrate his point, Acharya Prashant gives the example of great sages like Ashtavakra, Vashishtha, or Vishwamitra, who would not win a single rupee on such a show because they would be eliminated on the very first question. They would be baffled by questions about trivial details from movies, such as the color of an item of clothing. A decent person would not know the answers to the questions being asked. The decision of what to do or not to do, and which direction to take, is made by the ego. One cannot say that the ego makes wrong decisions for itself; at the moment of decision, it does what seems right to it. The ego operates based on its own calculations, considering itself the standard. Its ultimate justification is, "Because it seems so to me." In its own world, the ego is the supreme court. Even if it listens to scriptures or a guru, the final decision to accept or reject their advice is made by the ego, making it supreme. The ego is a dead pattern that considers itself alive, and it is defined by two essential things: "I know" and "I have desires." The ego's first knowledge is that it is incomplete, which gives rise to the desire to become complete. Sage Ashtavakra, however, breaks both these notions. He introduces the concepts of 'Nirved' (dispassion towards knowledge) and 'Avritti' (desirelessness). While the ego venerates knowledge (Ved) and vows (Vrat), Ashtavakra teaches that the highest state is to be without knowledge (Nirved) and without vows (Avritti). All our worldly knowledge is for the sake of enjoyment (bhukti), not liberation (mukti). This knowledge is born from the ego and serves the ego's desires, making it a burden. True freedom is freedom from this ego-driven knowledge.
