What’s considered as knowledge?

Knowledge is defined as “facts, information and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject.” Or “awareness or familiarity gained by experience of a fact or situation.” In simpler terms, when we think of the knowledge in our heads, it’s really something we’ve been told and believed it to be true or something we’ve learnt from doing something. The knowledge we obtain through teaching and learning isn’t information we have perceived directly. We consider what we have been taught knowledge in the basis of two major factors- evidence and trust. Trust is defined as a “firm belief in the reliability, truth, or ability of someone or something.” Evidence is “the available body of facts or information indicating whether a belief or proposition is true or valid.” In Science- for example- for a new theory to come into affect, the information has to be tested and supported. This evidence verifies and consolidates this information to be “knowledge.” Without it, it doesn’t have a leg to stand on and (generally) becomes unreliable. This is where trust comes into play. Despite numbers and statistics as evidence, this so called knowledge we learn and acquire isn’t something we find upfront; it’s discovered by other individuals. This new information is then relayed down different channels of people before it reaches the point where you come across it. We hear it and are told it’s true; therefore, we subconsciously classify it as such. Can words not get lost in translation? Do different people not interpret different things differently? This shouldn’t affect us because we’ve already considered it as new knowledge. In a nutshell, knowledge isn’t limited given that trust isn’t limited. It takes many forms and many ways of getting to a certain point. This certain point isn’t the same for everyone; therefore, what’s considered knowledge isn’t the same for everyone.

One thought on “What’s considered as knowledge?”

  1. You’ve raised some insightful points about trust and the consequences of trust when forming beliefs and knowledge.
    How do your ideas link to your object? Could you provide some context and justify why it links to the question ‘what counts as knowledge’?

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