How Shared Knowledge Shapes Personal Knowledge - Essay Example

How Shared Knowledge Shapes Personal Knowledge Introduction The best area of knowledge to use in understanding whether shared knowledge has any effect in shaping personal knowledge is ethics. Ethics refers to the codes and principles that govern the character and personalities of an individual, as well as dictate how such an individual behaves in public, or with friends and family. As such, according to ethics, an individual can be morally upright or totally misbehaved by practicing good behavior and bad behavior respectively. Consequently, according to the concept of knowledge, one gets to learn of the way to behave through others or on his own. A case of shared knowledge would be a person learning or acquiring a particular personality because of his or her interaction with a group of people, friends, or family members. On the other hand, a person can still acquire a given character or personality by undergoing personal training on the subject in order to become an expert in that area or field of specialization. Some of the key developers of ethics knowledge within a community include the religion, and cultural beliefs of practices. Under these, two schools of discipline, one gets to learn how to act ethically upright from the time of birth and throughout his or her life guided by the teachings and lessons that he or she receives. For instance, religion has different teachings that promote morality and uprightness in character and behavior within the society. These include how to be respectful, obedient, loving, social, as well as other important qualities within the community, such as leadership, marriage, relationships, spiritual growth and peaceful coexistence. Cultures also have specific cultural practices which are imperative in shaping the character of an individual, his or her behavior, as well as determining his or her personality. Shared Knowledge and Personal Knowledge Personal knowledge refers to the knowledge that an individual possesses on his own self, and usually accumulated through learning, observation or personal experiences. This kind of knowledge makes an individual an expert in a particular field or is of specialization, such as medicine, engineering, plumbing, teaching, or nursing. On the other hand, shared knowledge refers to the knowledge that an individual acquires through sharing with others. This may be in form of expertise, skills or information as it undergoes various exchanges among different people, communities, families, friends, or organizations. As such, this is common knowledge that almost everyone has access to, and therefore not necessarily enough to make one an expert in a given field or profession, such as photography, swimming, mountain climbing, and skiing. As such, since shared knowledge is mainly general knowledge that an individual acquires and adds it to the knowledge that he or she already has, it may sometimes be vague and inadequate for an individual to apply it as a professional. Therefore, shared knowledge is in most cases shaped by personal knowledge, whereby the professionals in a group, family or community share tit-bits of their personal knowledge to the rest of its members. This makes it impossible for shared knowledge to shape personal knowledge because personal knowledge is deeper and more detailed as opposed to shared knowledge, which is shallow and easy to grasp. However, this might not necessarily be the case as investigated under the school of ethics. This is because this school of knowledge does not require academic qualifications for an individual to become an expert in such a field, but rather goes with the mass or numbers. How Shared Knowledge Shapes Personal Knowledge Humans are social beings, and as such, want to behave and act like others. In such regard, a human being will most likely emulate a behavior, character or personality that he or she sees in another individual, especially if a large proportion of the society in acting in such a manner. The same case is similar to that of ethical standards and moral practices. A person will be ethically upright if he or she lives in an ethically correct society, but would be otherwise in case he or she resides in a rogue society. The essence that leads to a society or a community shaping the behavior of an individual lies in the fact that shared knowledge, to a significant extent, shapes personal knowledge. Take for instance an educated child who goes to school overseas then returns to practice as a professional in his or her home community. Before he or she left the community, the child might have been a thief because he or she came from a community that practiced stealing. However, after going through school, he learns that stealing is bad and punishable by both ethics and law. Nevertheless, the child is likely to return to stealing, al be it in a different perspective, such as grand corruption and embezzlement of funds because the society he or she lives in promotes, practices, and embraces theft. As such, this case appears as a good example whereby shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge. The child knew through learning and education that stealing is bad, but the negative influence he or she gets from the community, through shared knowledge, makes him or her become a criminal as allure of theft attracts him or her. Not only does shared knowledge shape the personal knowledge negatively, but it also shapes it positively. In fact, most of the avid examples of how people developed their character and behavior stems from shared knowledge. Despite the creation of an education system, as well as different institutions of learning whereby people go to acquire professional knowledge in different professions and fields, there is no specific school that teaches students how to be ethically upright and morally behaved. This is in spite of the professional codes of conducts guided by ethics that govern each profession or activity, as most people usually end up breaking such codes. As such, they rely mostly on shared knowledge in order to become ethically upright and morally stable. For instance, a person who has bad behavior, such as promiscuity and unfaithfulness in relationships, learns through shared knowledge that his or her character is wrong, and as such, makes the right changes to conform to the norms and standards of the society. Shared knowledge enables such an individual learn, from shared experiences of others within the society, family, or work circle, that his or her behavior is bad and as such, needs to change. The more such an individual sees the others behaving in a morally upright manner, the more he or she will want to change and become amorally upright person in order to fit in the society. Source of knowledge An individual can acquire knowledge or the skills to do something through various means, such as education, life experiences, apprenticeship, and training, as well as through personal observations. A person acquires knowledge through apprenticeship by following the guidance of an expert or a guru in the field which he or she has interest. In most cases, the knowledge that a person acquires through apprenticeship is applied knowledge, or practical knowledge that has a lot of practical activities that the person learns through undertaking them rather than theory. In addition, such a skill or knowledge does not require qualification or any form of accreditation that a student gets from his or her teacher at the end of the study period. The teacher determines when the student is ready to go out on a solo practice, and as such, be responsible for his or her own actions. As such, an individual learns through shared knowledge from his master, mentor, or trainer on how to become of good character and moral ethics after learning from his or her master. Empiricism and rationalism Different scholars came up with different theories of knowledge based on their perception and beliefs. Some of the key theories of knowledge that emerged during medieval times include the theories of empiricism and that of rationalism. Advocates for the theory of empiricism defined it as a theory of human knowledge, which states that the acquisition of any knowledge by an individual is through the experiences that such an individual goes through in life, or the perceptions that he or she has towards various items around him or her. As such, empiricists argued that the daily experiences that individuals have to go through in life provide them with critical knowledge, skills and expertise since the brain of a human being is always black at the time of birth. For instance, one might not know he or she has a particular talent unless he or she stumbles upon it while practicing, then engages in more practices in order to become a veteran or professional in the same field. A good example is that of a talented soccer player who discovers his or her talent while playing soccer with friends on the street, then practices over the years to become a professional player. On the other hand, rationalism is in total and complete contrast of empiricism. As such, according to rationalists, a person needs to have a reason that will spur him or her to acquire specific knowledge and experience in a given field or profession. Therefore, the reason behind the acquisition of knowledge traverses above the experience that one has or holds over a given situation. In fact, rationalists put forward an argument that a person is usually born with some form of knowledge, and not with a blank brain as purported by empiricists, and this little knowledge is what gives them the reason to acquire more knowledge in a particular field of specialty. A good case example is a family whereby all members are expert doctors. The father could be a doctor, and so is his elder son, and later his grandson. A little historical archeology along the family line provides that the family produced a number of competent doctors during its time. It would be worthwhile to note that medicine runs in the family. Therefore, a child born into such a family has a high likelihood to become a doctor one day given an opportunity to pursue his or her dream. Empiricism is therefore the best way to go in acquiring knowledge as it gives opportunities to all people to learn a given skill or profession given the experiences that they go through, unlike rationalism whereby one cannot choose the kind of family he or she is born into, and as such, the knowledge and skills that the family line has. Conclusion In conclusion, it is imperative to note that people acquire knowledge through different means. However, the different means through which people acquire knowledge does not make one more competent than the other. As the wise men said, there are nine ways of killing a cat, and as such, a person who knows one of these ways is a competent “cat-killer” irrespective of the manner or style in which he acquired such knowledge. In addition, it is imperative to note that personal knowledge is much deeper and as such shapes shares knowledge in a great deal. Works Cited Buch, Sabrina. Shared Knowledge: The Comparability Of Idiosyncratic Mental Models. Boston: Bod – Books On Demand, 2012. Print. Heydon, Wendy And Jesudason, Susan. Decoding Theory Of Knowledge For The IB Diploma: Themes, Skills And Assessment. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013. Print. Lagemaat, Richard. Theory Of Knowledge For The IB Diploma. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Print. Read More