Acceptance of a Knowledge - Essay Example

That Which is Accepted as Knowledge Today Is Sometimes Discarded Tomorrow When considering the theory of knowledge as it applies to our everyday life, people mostly find that there is a revisionist theme often at work. That is because the information that is received about specific or everyday topics often finds itself either been added to or changed in such a way that the information released can change the point of view of a person or affect the beliefs of an entire generation of people. Whether that information remains validated or not solely depends upon the latest discoveries relating to the topic being discussed or debated upon in society. That is why it can be said that “That which is accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow”. This is a theory that is easily supported by occurrences in the field of history and ethics where there are often changes in the information previously published due to additional information being discovered that is relevant to the previous claims made. Take for example the Ethics behind the social standards of our modern society. Ever since the American civil war, social classes and ideologies have been changing from what was originally thought. Consider for example, the fact that during the civil war, the slaves were thought to be dumb people who were incapable of learning and rising above their station in life. After being granted freedom and equality, the African Americans, as they soon came to be known, disproved the facts about their intellectual abilities over time. Some of the greatest and most inspiring people in American history happen to be Blacks -- Martin Luther King Jr and Malcolm X from the most recent history of African Americans, and Oprah Winfrey and, the most important black figure in the history of African Americans, Pres. Barack Obama, in modern history. These people all proved that misconceptions of the past are nothing but that. Written as historically accurate because there was no other information existing at that time to prove otherwise. Then there was this social theory that women could not be worth anything outside of the home. That the work force should only be male dominated because women are incapable of performing the same tasks as men. History once again, proved that this was a baseless theory as women not only began to dominate the workforce after World War II, but that in the 21st century, women now head Fortune 500 companies such as Pepsi and General Motors, and also have proceeded to gain ownership of their private businesses. Of course one should not forget that under the social standards, there is also the debate about the homosexuals who were first viewed as sick people by society. Carriers of a communicable disease that should be avoided at all cost. Time has proven that the members of the LGBT community are not sick or terminally ill people. Rather, they are a normal occurrence in nature that we have yet to fully understand in terms of their development and relevance to our society. Yet, with the little understanding that we have about homosexuals, it has become possible for people to gain a better understanding of these people solely through interaction. Thus allowing people to discard the previous knowledge about them as irrelevant and inaccurate. It is important to understand however, that when it comes to social issues such as those previously mentioned, time will need to pass and more accurate information will need to be presented in order for the previous knowledge to be rendered obsolete and unethical. As such, there will always be a sector of society that will be resistant to change until such a time that the previous resistant generation has died out, leaving a new and more open minded generation in its place, influenced by the corrected information of the past. Another area where knowledge that was accepted and can be discarded the next day exists in the area of technology. For instance, there was a time during the infancy of the television when it was termed to be an “idiot box” because the only activity that it required the person viewing the show to do was to sit down and listen. He did not need to have an opinion or do anything while sitting in front of the screen. The television shows of the past did nothing to add or enhance the intelligence of the viewer as most of the shows were soap operas, comedies, and game shows that were meant mostly for the purpose hours of mindless entertainment. Yet 100 years after the boob tube was first invented, it has become an indispensable part of the education of a person. For a child just learning how to form words, Saturday morning cartoons and educational programs like Sesame Street form the foundation of their early learning experience. After school television programs such as those found on Nickelodeon provide additional educational value to the learners through their educational game shows and programming. For those whose families have cable television, the formerly unimpressive piece of appliance has become an educational tool of the future. Channels such as History, Discovery, National Geographic and the like offer up more than just the ordinary school time documentaries on various historical, scientific, and social topics that the youth of today must be familiar with. In fact, for some students, viewing these channels on a daily basis is almost mandatory as the information these channels offer helps them get through their most difficult school assignments when they least expect it. It is also because of the aforementioned television programs that the accepted knowledge of the past finds itself being discarded the next day. These programs are all about providing the most accurate and up to date information about topics ranging from anything to everything under the sun. As such, people become more exposed to the mistakes of the past and develops a questioning mind within the person. Thus making the person question the previous fact presented and requiring more than just “because i said so” as an answer to their inquiries. Using the previously stated examples as the basis of the discussion for this paper, it becomes easier to understand how information can easily be changed or discarded. With every bit of information and discovery that is discovered about the past of mankind, it become evident that there is no true complete validity to the theories and claims being made by the so called professionals, experts, and historians of our time. Therefore knowledge can truly be either changed or discarded as time and events require. The validity of the previously presented information is always subject to interpretation and change depending upon the circumstances surrounding the proof of a claim. Even historical claims are subject to the tests of validity and presentation of acceptable evidence in order to remain either accurate or changed by the information most currently discovered. After all, history is not always recorded in the manner that it actually happened. Since history is written by the victors, there is always a great chance that the information presented in the documents and books are either lacking in accuracy or totally false, dramatized in order to create a better platform of believability for their argument. The way that people perceive events in real time has a tendency to be altered due to the emotion and language used by the participants of the event. Emotion tends to cloud the actions of a person. Thus creating a bias view of events as they unfold. These then turn into a bias report of the event which over time becomes the flawed “historical fact” studied by the future generation of students. In such instances, improvements are made to the currently available information while the points of view on the topic are reconsidered in an effort to streamline the available knowledge and information about certain topics and events. This is what forces the discarding of previously acknowledged facts and information in favor of up to date information on topics and events. Considering all of the information presented within this paper, it is now easier to understand how what was accepted as knowledge today is sometimes discarded tomorrow. History and events continuously occur in our daily lives. Everyday, additional information or corrected information about previous events are discovered. These discoveries are presented to the public in order to increase their knowledge. It is up to the public to decide which information will be discarded and which will be held as fact after the presentation. It is only after these events occur that a change in the accuracy of knowledge and information can have an effect on the previously accepted knowledge. Read More