When I learn something exceptionally beneficial, I immediately want to share that information with others. It's almost unfair that you have the right info/details that would help someone else out of a situation. You might be the same way.

Do your friends and colleagues look at you like you're crazy too,
when you know beyond the shadow of a doubt that you're not?

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There was this super cool Philosopher dude named Plato, who studied under another Philosopher guy named Socrates. A key difference between the two is that his student actually wrote books and stories. Sometimes he would even make his teacher a character! One of those stories Plato wrote is called "The Allegory of the Cave", and basically explains that;

You could discover the most profound knowledge, but it will literally be too difficult to explain it to another person- Unless they saw what you saw, and experienced what you experienced. You're basically a crazed lunatic to them.

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"The Allegory of the Cave" (Abridged)

So, there's these three guys obviously in a cave, completely chained up and all they can see is a wall. Behind them, there's a fire- And anything that passes by it, casts a shadow on the wall.

This is their whole reality, their entire experience from birth.

One day, one of the prisoners breaks free and decides; "Hey, Imma leave the cave and go explore." He gets outside and it's so bright, his vision is fuzzy- but he loses his s*** when it clears up. He sees people, houses, animals and things.

Eventually he looks into the sky, and sees the sun- When he looks at the ground he realizes that the shadows are being given off by these things from the light.

Oh man, he has all this knowledge- Including "the truth" about the sun. Better go tell his buddies.

He gets back to the cave; tells them that their whole life is a lie, and that the shadows they believed to be the entities themselves are not real.

His friends of course are like; "What the f*** are you talking about?!" Nobody believes him.

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_{Alex Gendler with TED-Ed did a great animated short that explains this story}

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Material Society

Even if the information you want to share with others is worthwhile and valuable, if it challenges another person's beliefs or forces them to step outside of their comfort zone for a bit- They're not going to want to do it. Oftentimes people will claim to desire the very knowledge you wish to share. This is the frustration in explaining Philosophical concepts with non-Philosophers that Plato wanted to show us. If the prisoners all knew what the escapee did, I'm sure that they would all love to leave that place behind.

The only thing close to an experience itself is hearing it as a story from another person and using your own imagination. It appears that behind every piece of knowledge there is a foundation in experience. In the same regard, there is always some truth in a lie, and some non-fiction hidden inside of a fantasy.

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Just remember the next time that someone doubts your knowledge, they haven't had the same set of experiences that lead to your discovery. You may just know what you're talking about. They may not be chained up in a cave, but we all are limited only by what we choose to believe.

...For now, we can tell stories.