Sources+of+Knowledge

Sources of Knowing

 * 1) How do you acquire knowledge and understanding? **

Knowledge is the state of knowing and the awareness of an individual to certain things. There are various ways of gaining different kinds of knowledge.

Some examples of knowledge are Direct, Indirect, Intuitive, Procedural, and Fixed Knowledge.

Direct knowledge can be acquired by trying out and doing things using your senses (Eyes, Ears, Hands, Nose, Tongue)

-Example: When a person touches or even just holds his hand above boiling water, he immediately knows that the water is hot. Or even if he just sees smoke he assumes that the water is hot.

Indirect knowledge involves thinking and processing information in order to know something. Indirect knowledge can't always be trusted though, because it's truth relies on where you base your data from or on how the information was understood in the first place.

-Example: When a mathematician solves a certain problem, he works out and tries different formulas to get the right answer.

Thinking and experimenting is not necessary in order to gain Intuitive knowledge. This type of knowledge is based on a person and what s/he believes is the truth even without thinking. It's basically a person's instinct.

-Example: When a person sees a dog chasing him, he would immediately run for his life and not just stand there waiting for the dog to attack him.

Procedural knowledge relies on a set of instructions in order to perform a task.

-Example: In science class, when a student performs a chemical experiment, the teacher gives out a set of instructions for the students to follow in order to get the same result.

Fixed knowledge is based on actual facts which cannot be modified like in books, laws and constitutions, etc.

-Example: When a person reads a book about history, he cannot change or manipulate what happened during the past because it already happened.


 * 2) What are the sources of this knowledge? **

-Assumptions: Assumptions are what first comes into your head when you see something even when you don't know what it is. Like when you see something made out of glass, you assume that it's fragile and breaks easily.

-Experience: Experience plays a big part in gaining knowledge. As we learn new things, we instantly put that in our head. When you encounter something you've seen before, you immediately know what it is or what to do with it.

-Observations: Observation is very important in learning new things. When you see a new object and you don't know what it is, you observe how it looks like and maybe experiment on it and see what it does. You can also observe someone using it so that you can have an idea on what its purpose is.

Symbols of Sources of Knowing

 * = Acquaintance ||= [[image:Acquaintance width="83" height="65" align="center"]] ||
 * = Authority ||= [[image:Authority.jpg width="87" height="82"]] ||
 * = Belief ||= [[image:Belief.jpg width="95" height="98"]] ||
 * = Empathy ||= [[image:Empathy.jpg width="100" height="88"]] ||
 * = Empirical ||= [[image:Empirical.jpg width="100" height="102"]] ||
 * = Ethics ||= [[image:Ethics.jpg width="116" height="112" align="center"]] ||
 * = Faith ||= [[image:Faith.jpg width="100" height="128"]] ||
 * = Instinct ||= [[image:Instinct.jpg width="100" height="120"]] ||
 * = Introspection ||= [[image:Introspection.jpg width="100" height="118"]] ||
 * = Logic ||= [[image:Logic.jpg width="100" height="102"]] ||
 * = Memory ||= [[image:Memory.jpg width="100" height="88"]] ||
 * = Practice ||= [[image:Practice.jpg width="95" height="122"]] ||
 * = Senses ||= [[image:Senses.jpg width="100" height="89"]] ||

PERL Chart

 * Perception || Belief, Empathy, Ethics, Logical ||
 * Emotion || Faith, Introspection, Empathy, Conscience ||
 * Language || Acquaintance, Authority ||
 * Reason || Belief, Acquaintance, Practice, Instinct, Ethics, Empirical, Logical, Authority, Memory ||