To know, experience, understand or be aware of something. Having scholarship, mastery, enlightenment or wisdom. Access to information, data, facts, statistics or case studies. Being sagacious. Proof, evidence or documentation. To have perception, memory, recognition, familiarity or realization. The ability to reason. Having intelligence, sensibility or insightfulness. To be a mentor, coach, guru or professor. Philosophical and scientific theories. All of these things touch on knowledge, but barely get the ball rolling.
If you’ve ever operated a vehicle, traveled somewhere new, driven by the rules of the road, found your way home and told someone about the events of your day, that was an exercise of many kinds of knowledge. Plato defined knowledge as justified true belief. Sir Francis Bacon said knowledge is Power. There are so many different types of knowledge, explained in so many different ways, with subtle differences and varying interpretations, that we have a treasure trove to work with when defining it. Although, the best understanding of it might just come from leaving it in the melting pot.
Around the world throughout history, the concepts of knowledge are immense. Some of the earliest thoughts on this were probably projected through knowledge deities, which existed by the dozens. Ancient Egyptian Seshat, goddess of wisdom, knowledge, and writing. West African Orunmila, god of wisdom, knowledge, and divination. Chinese Laozi, God of wisdom. Greek Metis, the Titan goddess of wisdom. Hindu Hayagriva, god of knowledge and wisdom. Japanese Fukurokuju, god of wisdom and longevity. Middle Eastern Al-Kutbay, Nabataean god of knowledge and writing. Persian Ahura Mazda, Zoroastrian god of light, benevolence, creation, truth, and perfect wisdom.
Ancient history shows us an impressive intellect did exist. Greek episteme, the domain of true knowledge. Mathema, that which is learnt. Philosophia, love of wisdom; the intellectual and erotic path which leads to virtue and knowledge. Polymath, having learned much. Polymath was later used in Europe and interchangeable with the expression Renaissance man, meaning a person with many talents or areas of knowledge. Latin Sapere aude, dare to know. Scire, to know, understand. Homo universalis or universal man, a person who is known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems.
There are some cultures that have more than one word for knowledge in their language. Some examples are, Spanish saber and conocer, French savoir and connaitre, and German kennen, wissen and konnen. I’ll leave it up to you to educate on their differences. The English language combines all different kinds of words with knowledge when describing the endless concepts.
A priori knowledge is based on pure reason. A posteriori knowledge is deduced from evidence. Knowledge by acquaintance is experience-based and obtained through interaction. Descriptive knowledge is expressed in declarative sentences or indicative propositions. Information that is readily available in forms such as newspapers, manuals, textbooks and encyclopedias, is referred to as explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is knowledge that is difficult or impossible to convey explicitly, like how to ride a bike or play a musical instrument. With implicit knowledge a person isn’t necessarily aware they have learned something, like when someone is working with there hands and they have gotten better at something they know how to do. General knowledge covers topics like, current affairs, fashion, family, health, sports, arts and science. World knowledge is information a person accumulates throughout life. When we’re cognitively recalling knowledge of facts, ideas, meaning and concepts, they come from our semantic memory and autobiographical events come from our episodic memory.
Traditional Knowledge, explained by the International Council for Science is “a cumulative body of knowledge, know-how, practices and representations maintained and developed by peoples with extended histories of interaction with the natural environment. These sophisticated sets of understandings, interpretations and meanings are part and parcel of a cultural complex that encompasses language, naming and classification systems, resource use practices, ritual, spirituality and worldview.”
Without the desire to learn, the human race would be among the animals on the planet with no real differences in life style. I wouldn’t be surprised if developing our strong ability to imitate each other is when our path began to diverge. At any extent, the big changes came with the formation of language and writing. When humanity developed the ability to pass on information, our knowledge became an entity of its own, separate from the individuals that contribute to it, growing almost as if it’s a being in itself. This body of knowledge is also a timeline that provides a detailed, understandable look into our history.
If we can acknowledge a spectrum spanning from knowing nothing to a (TOE), then it should be easy enough to see our current knowledge is somewhere in the middle. From this point of view we’re all learning and it’s really about being less false. The important idea here is that we’re moving towards an ultimate knowledge. In the past, true knowledge has been an expression used in a religious context. I would like to add, that in science, knowledge is truth waiting to be discovered.
“The essence of knowledge is, having it, to apply it; not having it, to confess your ignorance.”
Confucius
A fixed mind-set is when someone believes intelligence is something you can’t change very much, even if you learn something new. An open mind-set is when someone believes you can always change how intelligent you are, no matter how much you start out with. A person’s experiences filter through a frame of mind based on their knowledge. This profoundly influences our actions and reactions to the world. Naturally, a good filter is valuable for navigating through life. If you can live life with an open mind-set, the possibilities will be endless.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandala
This book is about asking big questions and getting big answers, which means there is an emphasis not only on the importance of accurate information, but also on how to correctly interpret it and use respectfully. With knowledge comes a great responsibility to use it properly.
Whether we’re studying it, contributing to it or just reaping the benefits from it, we’re all connected by knowledge.