The personal pursuit of knowledge is a wonderful thing, both for its own sake, and for the sake of its application. However, when taken to either extreme, or when handled incorrectly, this wonderful thing loses much of its worth. Care must be taken to avoid the extremes of disinterest with and coercion of others with this knowledge.
Focusing solely on description may be a good way to begin the pursuit of knowledge, but it becomes a selfish pursuit if consideration is never given to how it can help others. It's all too easy to become so enthralled with your studies that you don't notice where what you learned could be of use to others. Worse still is blatantly disregarding the interests of others when you continue in this pursuit. As social creatures, it is against our best nature to focus on the self. As a result of such a focus, one can only expect depression and a nihilistic outlook in the long-run.
Spending all your time prescribing what others should do is just as bad if not worse than the alternative. People do not like being told what to do, so focusing your efforts in that direction will not win you any friends. Even if it were for their good, spending all your resources exhorting and none studying will likely leave your advice lacking in relevance and accuracy.
The ideal is to find the balance between these two extremes. If your purpose is to help others, than expending all your resources to the pursuit of knowledge leaves you no time with which to actually help others. At the very least, you should record what you know, so future generations can benefit from your study. On the other hand, when you are giving advice, it is best to make sure it is as counsel and not as coercion. Even if it is binding, people tend to appreciate the ability to choose. Above all, consideration must be given to both your learning, and how to impart your learning to others.
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