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Knowledge

Knowledge.
This is a word that holds extortionate amounts of  weight. A word or better yet, an object that could bring down nations only to build them up again, stronger than ever before. But what does it mean? At it's heart - what is it really?

In my opinion knowledge is subjective. It is influenced by age, nationality, experience, religion and science among many other factors. Not only that but its very fibres, what it really is at its core is only that which we believe it to be for we all hold knowledge (in whatever form that may be), but how we practice it, what we consider it to be differs.

I, for instance, believe that knowledge is an all-encompassing light that guides us and leads on to wisdom. It is not merely the art of being book smart or knowing scientific facts, rather, a kaleidoscope of the skills we have learnt, the hardships we have gone through, the ability to inquire and seek the truth and, at its crux the understanding of the happenings around us and the study of life which I believe includes every subject there ever was.

Others will of course feel differently. And to prove this, I have asked 9 people what they believe knowledge is. Their backgrounds,ages and experiences all differ and due to this their answers vary tremendously:

  • Jonathon Hurley, 47; "Knowledge is power, information, knowing and freedom." He also quoted one of his favourite knowledge based sayings by KRSO1: "Knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everything and everyone."
  • M. Daniel Hurley, 15: "Memories gained from being taught or learning from experiences in many different aspects of life."
  • Gwen Pamay, 20: "Knowledge is information taken from different people. You get something from and with knowledge, to know more about things and become more aware."
  • Bien Pamay, 19: "Knowledge is something you use everyday. Without wisdom, knowledge is nothing."
  • Lucy M, 44: "Knowledge is knowing information that can effect your life - it is having the tools and wisdom and  using the tools in the right way."
  • Yasmin Gaffar, 15: "Knowledge is the essence of life." MIKE-DROP
  • Raz Hurley, 41: "Common sense."
  • Patricia Pamay, 21: "Knowledge is power, it is something we need in our daily lives."
  • Alya Hurley, 12: "Knowledge is basically things that have been passed-down or created; a bunch of lies agreed upon by people - we don't know what is right or what is wrong."
As shown above, there are certain points that were consistently brought up and this could be attributed to any of the afore mentioned influences. It is thus easy to see that age, experience and simply opinion change the meaning of knowledge, perhaps making it broader and showing that it has no solid meaning that is rigid and inflexible, rather it is like a body of water that can flow and change with the tides of life. 

References:
  1. Theory of Knowledge course companion - Eileen Dombrowski, Lena Rotenberg and Mimi Bick.
  2. M.Daniel Hurley

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Comments

  1. Unknown3 September 2016 at 14:10

    I love how you interviewed people and got their opinions to back up what you said about knowledge being different. I also like how you state that knowledge shouldn't be defined on what you're good at and that it should be recognized for all its aspects. And I love how you refer to it as a kaleidoscope. The only thing I can think of to improve it would maybe be if you questioned it a bit more? I know you did in the beginning but I mean a little more throughout? Overall I liked it. It was very well written and I can see you put a lot of effort into it xx

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  2. GHE6 September 2016 at 10:05

    Thanks for your insights and that you enjoy the journey of TOK!! We assume we know what knowledge is and how we get that...look at the ways of knowing and we see how reliable that may be! Have fun with the posts and share with all you can!! Share knowledge : )

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown27 September 2016 at 11:24

    What an engaging and well written piece! I appreciate the fact that you not only expressed your own personal views and opinions, but included those of multiple others as well. It gives you an idea of how contrasting different people's definitions for knowledge and takes on it are. You have managed to clearly portray your personal opinion amongst multiple others, yet make it stand out and be unique and original as well. Overall a great analysis of knowledge and an enjoyable read! Well done :)

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