Knowledge in Everyday Life: Theory and Application - Essay Example

November 11, Knowledge Introduction Knowledge is defined as the understanding or the awareness that one has on something. This can be in terms of facts, skills sand it is acquired through a number of ways. In this essay we shall look at the active and passive ways of getting knowledge. As purported by the question, it is true to some extent that production of knowledge is through passive observation where the individual will have no control over the knowledge that they get and the active one which is evidence based and involves actual learning and asking of questions so as to supplement the knowledge that one has been given. The knowledge that an individual has is a sum of the two in addition to others that shall be discussed in the essay. In our daily lives we encounter different situations which add knowledge to our lives, some are evidence based but they neither qualify to be totally active or passive and so by looking at the philosophical approach of knowledge we shall be able to raise an argument to show that in some cases this can apply but in other circumstances it would not be true. Theories of Knowledge: Epistemology To support our argument and establish the source and production of knowledge in our lives we shall look at the theories of knowledge and what has been developed in the past to explain it. This will be used to support my claim in partially supporting the statement given in the question. James Frederick Ferrier is the philosopher who came up with the theory of knowledge popularly known as epistemology. In his argument knowledge helps us to have beliefs which we can justify and others which we cannot justify. In the argument he argues that the beliefs which we have which can be termed as a result of the knowledge that we have acquired is a result of the situations that we have been through or the things that we have experienced in our lives (Theory of Knowledge). Plato in his argument defines knowledge as a true belief which has been defined or explained in the past. Therefore borrowing from this explanation the knowledge that we have needs to be explained or experimented. This takes us back to the acquisition of the knowledge. In our lives whether we participate or stay passive, we still end up knowing new things. This is because our minds are actively thinking and linking the things that we have seen to come up with new explanations on how things happen. In many circumstances we do not need to get full explanations on certain issues. All we need is to be introduced to certain concepts then using our past experiences we can compare or try to come up with solutions that closely fit the situation (Russel, 1926). This therefore means that the knowledge we get is not entirely based on our active or passive learning as purported by the question. However, it is important to note that the explanations that we may be having are based on the knowledge that we have acquired in the past and so the new knowledge that we shall acquire will still be based on the primary one that we had acquired in the two ways given (Cavell, 2002). This therefore forms the question on whether the explanations we have on new things based on our past experiences can be termed as new knowledge. Though quite controversial but I would refer to it as new since just as one is introduced to new concepts that have been derived by certain people, this also involves critically analyzing situations and coming up with the best explanation on their workin (Bengson & Moffet,2011). Partial and Scientific Knowledge In understanding partial knowledge which forms one part of our argument, it is good to imagine a scenario where one is presented with a totally new situation and he is supposed to come up with an idea that should help in solving the problem. The person will therefore try to think and coin similar or closely similar scenario that he has encountered in the past to help him to address the question or the problem presented. This will therefore involve taking advantage of the little, vague or partial understanding of the problem and through that one will be able to come up with a way of addressing the new problem as it presents itself. This introduces us to the concept of bounded rationality where it is argued that in our lives and in all the situations we go through and the conclusions we make which add to the knowledge we have, we are always presented with limited information that can help us to make decisions. This limited information can either be misleading or leading. Using the information one can decide to apply the knowledge into practice and through active participation one will have increased his knowledge or understood why a certain thing won’t work. This is active participation which is the major source of knowledge in our lives (Descartes, n.d). Active experiment as a way of getting knowledge is important as being evidence based, it offers the individual with a better explanation of how things work and what would happen if they were done in a slightly different way. At school, tutors advocate for active experiment as way of passing their knowledge to the students. This involves active participation, doing experiments and asking of questions when one feels that he is quite troubled in certain topic. In situations where there is a disjoint in the passing of information or the system is advocating for partial methods of imparting knowledge on the students, it is seen that the performance is quite dismal. This has been one of the basis of challenging online education forums where the tutor can interact with the student online and through such forums help the student to understand new concepts. Researchers have questioned the method claiming that being so passive the student is not fully involved in the learning activity and so the overall output expected must be low. They have therefore advocated for the old method where the teacher and the student were meeting physical and the teacher could have a chance to evaluate the student’s ability to grasp the content and respond to their concerns. This boosts the amount of knowledge got considerably. Other Sources of Knowledge Much of the knowledge that we acquire is stored in our minds and it can be used to handle similar situations in the future. However, under normal circumstances one may not be able to recall all the things he knows. When a situation comes, one tries to compare it with similar or closely similar ones in the past. Knowledge got from active experimenting is preferred over the one acquired passively. Researchers and philosophers in the field have established that the higher the involvement in the process of getting knowledge the longer it will be retained and the vice versa. It is therefore true that in the given question, active participation will yield better results compared to passive acquisition of knowledge. One cannot get knowledge entirely by one of the given methods. The knowledge an individual has will be the total of all the experiences that they have in their lives. This is the reason why the advice of the old people is respected since they are supposed to have seen many things and participated for a longer time and so their knowledge is broader compared to that of a younger person. Knowledge is not limited, one cannot be limited by certain things to exceed their knowledge. In everything we do in our daily lives we acquire knowledge in various ways which include the ones that are given in this work. Therefore one should not limit his sources. One gets his knowledge from their perception towards certain things. Over the years, through the experiences that one has, they will perceive things differently. Empiricism explains the relation of the experiences that we have been through and the perceptions that we shall have (Leslie, 1910). Reason also helps to expand our knowledge as explained earlier. When faced with a given situation, different people will come up with different solutions in regard to the experiences that they have been through in the past. The knowledge that they have will determine the kind of solutions they may offer and the relevance of the solutions. If one had been through a similar scenario in the past it is evident that the way of tackling the problem will be better. Introspection is another source of knowledge that is used on top of the ones given in the essay. One evaluates his strengths and weaknesses through past experiences and through that understands what they can do best (Nozick, 1981). This helps in defining oneself better and increasing the self-knowledge. Conclusion From the examples given and the discussion that borrows from the philosophical approach to knowledge, I agree to a certain extent that there are two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge that is through passive observation and active experiment. Using the argument there are other ways of doing the same and increasing the knowledge the one has. Work Cited Bengson, John & Moffet, A. Marc. Knowing How: Essays on Knowledge, Mind, and Action. Oxford University Press. 2011. Print. Cavell, Stanley. Knowing and Acknowledging. Must we learn what we Say? Cambridge University Press. 2002. Print. Descartes, Rene. The Philosophical Writings of Rene Descartes. Volume Two. Cambridge University Press. Print. Leslie, J. Walker., Theories of Knowledge. Stonyhurst Philosophical Series. 1910. Web. Available at. < http://www3.nd.edu/Departments/Maritain/etext/walker.htm> Moser, Paul. K. The Oxford Handbook of Epistemology. Oxford University Press. 2002. DOI:10.1093/0195130057.003.0003. Print. n.a. Theory of Knowledge. Available at. Read More