The human desire for knowledge runs deep. It underpins our social order, our education system and the economy. But the paradox of knowledge is that getting more of the stuff doesn’t necessarily make us smarter. In fact, it can make us sick.

There’s a remarkable scene from the classic BBC series The Ascent of Man, where presenter Jacob Bronowski stands in Auschwitz, where several members of his family were killed, and declares: “We have to cure ourselves of the itch for absolute knowledge and power.” Science itself has revealed that uncertainty is built into the universe, Bronowski observes. This draws him towards what he calls a “principle of tolerance... the realisation that all knowledge is limited”.

Dogmatism dressed up as rationality is not only a source of moral decay. It also affects our mental health.

Kevin Sludds explores just how in a forthcoming book, Living Beyond Reason, that draws on his experience as both a psychotherapist and a lecturer in philosophy in Ireland and overseas. Sludds, from a north Dublin inner city family with Wexford roots, is not your typical academic. As a teenager he was homeless for a period of time, and the experience has shaped his professional outlook.

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