Recovering Islam's undervalued Intellectual Tradition

Some mythical part of the whole travel experience involves absorbing the wisdom of enduring cultures. In this regard, I found the following passage in a blog that speaks to these aspirations and also compliments our own personal views:

<< The first step in curing ignorance is to recognize that one does not know. Once people recognize their own ignorance, they can go off in "search of knowledge" (Çalab al-‘ilm)— which, as everyone knows, "is incumbent on every Muslim," and indeed, one would think, on every human being. No recovery of the intellectual tradition is possible until individuals take this step for themselves. The tradition will never be recovered through taqlâd or by community action, only by the dedication of individuals, through their own, personal taÁqâq. Governments and committees cannot begin to solve the problem, because they start from the wrong end. Understanding cannot be imposed or legislated, it can only grow up from the heart. >>

-Vadim