The Rev

A thought occurred to me the other day about knowledge: The vast majority of people only really know what they've been taught, and not so much what they have figured out on their own, if anything. That is, a few bright people figure out new things, like new theories or methods of doing things, etc., and everyone else learns those things and that's all they know.

Any thoughts on this idea?



The Rev

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Mafoo

very true. i think it has to do with how we get "education". were spoon fed info for the majority of our formative years, its no wonder many people never figure anything out on their own, they never learned how.

good thoughts rev

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PLUR
For once you have tasted flight you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return

msicidron

ive always had trouble accepting knowledge until i'd experienced it kinda..

like theres a difference between having knowledge of something thats been passed on to you and really knowing something from experience

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shakeNbake06

I think he's talking about learning something new, as in learning something no other human has known; new knowledge. People need to be spoon fed info though, how else is someone gonna learn something new, if he doesn't know what's already known? All mental conditioning- it's like if you're informed and learned in some dead guys "work" you can continue where he left off.. We need to learn previously learned information to gain new knowledge.

Suliman

how do you know that what you know is true knowledge?

Waves

i agree, i see this as a function of the way knowledge and the evolution of knowledge works.

like the thing with the apes learning to drink, here il paraphrase it:

Abstract Several examples have been documented of novel behaviours which have apparently arisen spontaneously in primate groups and then spread through the group by learning. Here we describe the first recorded instance of such an acquired behaviour in a prosimian. The behaviour, consisting of immersing the tail in water and then drinking from the wet tail, was observed in a group of semi free-ranging ring-tailed lemurs (Lemur catta). Seventeen of 28 animals showed the behaviour, including adult males. Several animals which did not show the behaviour were observed watching and sometimes sharing the wet tail of animals who did. Several incomplete sequences, notably of non-stimulus directed elements, were also seen in non-performers. It is likely that stimulus enhancement is the mechanism of spread of this behaviour through the group, although the presence of the incomplete sequences suggests that imitation is also a possibility.

SpringerLink - Journal Article

so basically they tracked the evolution of this behavior, the apes going from not knowing how to drink with their tails, to the spontaneous discovery and subsequent spread of the behavior. basically the stupid ones just watch the smart ones until they understand what the smart ones are doing, an apt metaphor for how knowledge works in the human world

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On this life that we call home
The years go fast and the days go so slow

Mescalito

To quote Einstein...

Information is not knowledge.

The only source of knowledge is experience.

Imagination is more important than knowledge.

The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination.

Knowledge of what is does not open the door directly to what should be.

The gift of fantasy has meant more to me than my talent for absorbing positive knowledge.

It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.

M

SageTree

It really amazes me to be able to see people at their jobs. Some of them are soooo skilled at what they do it's flat out amazing... I'm all like, man, I just drink with this guy now and again... he's an awesome (insert job/trade)

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verklingen

life is sharing

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

kitch

sometimes I believe I am open to receive

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Mikey

dont they say that you are what you do?

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RIP Gov

Geeno

pretty sure im some kind of smarty pants

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turmaline

I enjoy kowing things that make me happy, as for reading the paper..I don't want to know those horrible things.

I'm content to say the least, knowing the least.

Cerpin Taxt

"We can be knowledgable with other men's knowledge but we cannot be wise with other men's wisdom."
-Michel de Montaigne

You should check out some of his ideas Rev, especially concerning education.

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Step Back. Evaluate. Recognize.

"All memory is really a form of regurgitation of undigested experience."
-Alan Watts

osirus2020

Your mother will tell you to not touch the stove, but until you really do, you will never know the pain of a burn.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

turmaline

I believe learning how to forget things is the only way to learn new things.

Because the things in the past are the things that stop us from learning these new things?

osirus2020

This makes me wonder if the human brain has a limit and at what point we reach that. I would assume it's much greater, to a point where it's inconceivable.

Regardless

At first thought, I would immediately assume that we, today, know so much more than people did 100, 500, or even 10,000 years ago.

I think that today's generation knows, in general, much more than the generation that existed in 1850. But while each subsequent generation gains knowledge that their previous generation did not, they also lose some knowledge about the past.

So it's probably more one of those two steps forward, one step back, kind of deal.

I was taught how to be a carpenter. Experience is part of that, but being taught is a whole different thing.

Knowledge is like matter. You cannot create or destroy it; It can only be altered. Similar to math, the knowledge that we all possess would still exist regardless of our existence (you know, the whole "a tree falls in the woods" thing). For example, if building a house is the focus if your goal, there are multiple courses of action which will result in a house appearing where there was no house before. It's just all a matter of when someone sits down and decides to figure everything out.


The way we teach it, that's how we perceive this information ourselves and create steps to solve it. You can think of anything you do as a "problem" in which you have a goal (to succeed)and there are a certain number of things that have to happen in a certain sequence in order for you to accomplish that goal.


So it's not that most people are dumb, of just a few people are smart in society, It's just that certain people made the effort to reveal knowledge. If our society were put in the exact same circumstances that Dr X Brilliant guy was, someone would have invented it.


I also think knowledge builds. The more we learn, the more we can learn. I would consider myself smarter than most people 1000 years ago, but people then just happened to have existed in a time where there was less information/knowledge in circulation. If any of us were put in the circumstance of people in a different time, we would probably fare the same as they did.

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ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ

verklingen

when novelty is inspired teaching is required

it's the duality. genius being so comparatively rare in this world is a compliment. it means that even amid such stifling oppression, humanity can kiss greatness.

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“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”