Sources+of+Knowledge


 * Sources of Knowledge **

Although ‘knowledge’ and ‘understanding’ are constantly associated with each other, their meanings differ greatly. Despite this contrast, the means by which one acquires both knowledge and understanding are very similar and overlap frequently. To understand something typically means to be able to make sense of it and, if need be, to take action accordingly. Among the many methods used to acquire understanding is that of inference. Inferring is simply the act of coming to conclusions by making connections between two or more objects or concepts. For example, a person looking into a mirror for the first time may be able to infer that the person looking back is their self by observing that their surroundings are reflected. Understanding also requires perception, the process by which one makes meaning out of stimuli from the senses. If someone drinks hot sauce they may perceive that hot sauce is not refreshing and they may infer that anything labeled ‘hot’ might have the same effect upon them in the future. Two other important sources of understanding are those of self-evidence and intuition. Self-evidence is when a concept need not be explained for it is simple enough to be understood without help. This ties into inference as common sense or self-evidence cannot be present without past experiences to compare to. Intuition is a fascinating ability that allows humans to come to correct conclusions without reasoning. Knowledge, however, has less of an absolute meaning and indeed, no one, true definition. Nevertheless, the definition that is most widely acknowledged is that described by Plato which states that for a statement to be knowledge it must adhere to three criterion; it must be justified, true and believed. Using this definition is it exceedingly troublesome to classify any statement as knowledge owing to the fact that truth alone is a universe of uncertainty. The main source of knowledge is experience. Experience is difficult to identify but in the most base of terms it is to undergo some situation repeatedly. An eleventh grade student has had many school experiences because they have gone to school over and over again for many years and may have come to know that educational institutions are there to benefit the student. Education itself breeds knowledge seeing as it presents its students with justified, factual statements that the student can then choose to believe in. Beliefs is obviously an important source of knowledge as it is one of the three main criterions. Belief, in my opinion, is the most important of the three for a statement can be justified and truthful but if no one believes in it then it can be easily set side and ignored. However, if a statement such as ‘Unicorns are real.’ is believed then many people will spend their lives trying to justify the statement as true. Excellent piece Razan. Please practice making transitions and using paragraphs in your writing. This requires organization which means you could write a list for each item you will address, then speak to those one at a time, transitioning from one to the next.

The following file is the end product of an assignment in which I was to find photographs or symbols that represented the sources of knowledge. Links to the photos can be found by clicking on their sub-titles.

Instinct - Like acquaintance, instinct does not require a lot of thought and is in fact characterized by lack of it. Emperical - Empirical evidence is base completely on the fact that you have perceived it. Memory - Because you must have perceived a situation in order to remember it. || Introspection - Introspection is all about finding out how you truly feel and then learning from it. Empathy - Emapthy //is// a feeling. Conscience - Although conscience and ethics are similar I believe that conscience is more emotional and more about how you feel doing the right or wrong thing. Authority - Sometimes you just //feel// like someone knows a lot about a certain topic although there isn't really any reasoning or past experiences behind it. Memory - A large part of memory is emotion, no one simply remembers a certain situation if that situation didn't have a lasting effect on them. || Ethics - Ethics are the rules by which people carry out their lives - rules usually have reasoning behind them. Logical - Logic is a synonym for reason. Authority - Sometimes, a person shows expertise in a topic and then becomes an authority on it because it's just logical to trust people who know what they're doing. Practice - Practice is usually a well-reasoned act performed to get better at something. || Authority - ||
 * Perception || Acquaintance - Acquaintance is the most basic understand of a concept and you can not get anymore basic then the five senses.
 * Emotion || Faith - Faith is simply believing in something because you feel like you should.
 * Reason || Belief - Belief is a synonym of faith but I believe that it is different in the way that it is more likely to have solid logic behind it.
 * Language || Acquaintance -