The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

Knowledgeable – From Information to Wisdom

Knowledge

What is Knowledge and a Knowledgeable Person? Is knowledge everything that is known, the psychological result of perception and learning and reasoning, the factual information that a person knows, or the (technical) knowledge and skill required to do something? Is a knowledgeable person one who is highly educated, has extensive information or understanding, an alert and fully informed mind, or a person who is thoroughly acquainted with knowledge through study or experience? It is my belief that Knowledge is everything that is known, while a knowledgeable person is one who has accumulated much Information, Understanding, Intelligence, Experience, and Wisdom about different areas of knowledge.

Knowledgeable

So, how does a person become knowledgeable, what are the processes in the accumulation of knowledge to become a knowledgeable and wise person, and how are these processes interrelated? And what separates a knowledgeable person from a wise person? A simplified diagram that illustrates these processes and the flow of the accumulation of knowledge to become a wise person is as follows:

Generally, Information is the acquisition of facts, while understanding allows you to fill in the meaning of the facts. Intelligence allows you to connect the information and understanding that you have acquired, while experience allows you to discover new information and/or understanding that were unknown to you. Information, Understanding, and Intelligence cannot only be obtained by formal education but it can also be obtained autodidactically and through experiences. Experience is essential, as experience often reveals the gaps in your information, understanding, and intelligence. To obtain Wisdom much more is required than the accumulation of knowledge. Wisdom is the ability to apply what you have accumulated to determine truths and falsehoods, to weed out the important from the unimportant, and to make a judgment of the best manner to put into practice the knowledge that you have acquired.

The issue is, as always, how can you be confident that the knowledge you obtain is correct, as incorrect knowledge is often more harmful than no knowledge. There is no definitive means to assure that the knowledge that you obtain is correct. The best means to guard against incorrect knowledge is to heed the wisdom of Benjamin Franklin:

"Doubt a little of your own infallibility."

"For having lived long, I have experienced many instances of being obliged by better information, or fuller consideration, to change opinions even on important subjects, which I once thought right, but found to be otherwise. It is therefore that the older I grow, the more apt I am to doubt my own judgment, and to pay more respect to the judgment of others."

Therefore, doubt the correctness of your knowledge, pay attention to others that may be more knowledgeable, and be willing to change your mind if new or changed information becomes available to you.

Information

Information by itself is just a bunch of facts. The contestants in the television show Jeopardy! have much information, but do they have Understanding, Intelligence, Experience, and Wisdom? As Jeopardy! is only a quiz show based on the breadth of information that the contestants have, it is impossible to answer this question. Thus, the accumulation of information does not make a person knowledgeable. It is the process of the accumulation of knowledge that makes a person knowledgeable. The more information that you accumulate, and the more you utilize the knowledgeable process on the information that you accumulate, is what makes you a knowledgeable person.

Understanding

To know something does not necessarily mean that you understand something, and conversely, to understand something does not necessarily mean that you know something. A perfect example of this is from the Mayan civilization.

Mayan astronomers were very good at predicting the times and locations of the moon and sun rising and setting, as well as predicting lunar and solar eclipses. Through simple calculations, they were highly accurate in predicting these events. They knew when and where these events would occur. Yet, they had no understanding of why these events occurred. They did not, nor could not, understand that these events occurred due to the motion of the Earth revolving around the Sun and the Moon revolving around the Earth. They did not conceive of this possibility, nor were they interested in explaining why these events occurred. They were only interested in determining when and where these events occurred. Even if they did conceive of why these events were occurring, they did not have the mathematical knowledge to predict these events based on this understanding. Thus, it can also be said that:

"Knowing why is often more important than knowing how."
 - Mark Dawson.

This dichotomy between information and understanding is true not only for science but for all areas of human activities. The more you understand something, the more likely it is that you will be able to gain accurate information about something. It does not mean, however, that if you understand something, you have complete information on something. The human quest for knowledge is about gaining more and more accurate and complete information and understanding. Therefore, it can be said that when you have more information and a better understanding, you have laid the foundation to become a knowledgeable person.

Intelligence

“It is no proof of a man's understanding to be able to confirm whatever he pleases; but to be able to discern that what is true is true, and that what is false is false, this is the mark and character of intelligence.”
 - Emanuel Swedenborg

Intelligence is much more than information and understanding, as it is the ability to use your information and understanding with "Rationality" and "Reasoning" to confirm the correctness and interrelationships of your information and understanding. After you apply intelligence to your information and understanding, you become a more knowledgeable person. When you apply intelligence to your information and understanding, you often obtain new or better information and understanding, which furthers your knowledge base.

Rationality (not to be confused with Rationalism) is the quality or state of being rational – that is, being based on or agreeable to reason. In this regard, a person acts rationally if they have a good reason for what they do, or a belief is rational if it is based on strong evidence. This quality can apply to an ability of a psychological process, like reasoning, to mental states, such as beliefs and intentions, or to people who possess these other forms of rationality. A thing that lacks rationality is either arational if it is outside the domain of rational evaluation, or irrational if it belongs to this domain but does not fulfill its standards. Rationality implies the conformity of one’s beliefs with one’s reasons to believe and of one’s actions with one’s reasons for action. Rationality requires that you both think and act upon your Reasoning. Therefore, being rational is not the same as being reasonable.

Reason is the capacity to consciously apply logical thinking to draw conclusions about your information and understanding, with the aim of determining truths. To properly reason, you need to utilize “A Philosophical Approach” by understanding the Structure of Reasoning (i.e., premises followed by arguments, then conclusions), utilize proper Formal and Informal Logic, and beware of Logical Fallacies and Cognitive Biases in your thinking, as well as applying proper “Common Sense” in your thinking.

My utilization of Rationality is to set aside my emotions and biases, dispassionately examine an issue or concern with proper Reasoning, then think and act based on my proper Rationality and Reasoning.

Experience

"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn."
 - Benjamin Franklin

Information, Understanding, and Intelligence alone are insufficient, for Experience expands your knowledge base and exposes the gaps in your knowledge base. And the best experience is obtained in the real world, and the best experience is often failure, as failure is a great teacher of what you don’t know. Experience in the academic world is often limited to a subject matter and to others who are often so limited, while experience in the real world exposes the deficiencies of your knowledge base both inside and outside your area of expertise.

Experience in the non-academic world also teaches you how to interact with others outside of your knowledge base. Other people will often have less or more of a different knowledge base than you have. In any of these cases, you will expand your knowledge base and learn how to interact with people who have a different knowledge base from you, which will also add to your wisdom.

Failure is often the best experience, as all failure upon examination teaches you what you may not have known and what you need to add to your knowledge base. It also prepares you for future success as it will expand your knowledge base. The examination of your failures also adds to your humility, which will increase your wisdom.

Wisdom

People may become knowledgeable people, but they may not become wise people. This is because a wise person can more easily determine truths and falsehoods, and they can weed out the important from the unimportant and the awareness to know if, when, where, and how to apply their knowledge base. Many experts are knowledgeable but lack wisdom; however, experts often disagree with other experts, and for these reasons, expert opinion should be viewed with skepticism. Therefore, you should always remember that:

"Experts ought to be on tap and not on top."
  - Irish editor and writer George William Russell

A knowledgeable person knows what to say, and a wise person knows whether and how to say it. Thus, you should always try to be a wise person. A wise person will also attempt to explain their knowledge base in an intelligible manner to people who do not have sufficient knowledge to understand what they are saying. A wise person should always mean what they say and say what they mean. This requires that they use the proper word in its proper context. Many people use words expansively rather than narrowly, and if you use a word expansively, it can lead to miscommunication and/or misunderstandings. If your goal is to communicate your knowledge base and wisdom, then you must utilize words narrowly to avoid these problems. A wise person knows the importance of telling the truth and always speaks the truth regardless of the consequences and repercussions. Therefore, a wise person is also a courageous person (but not all courageous people are wise).

But you should remember that obtaining advice from a person who is neither knowledgeable nor wise in a particular subject is obtaining worthless advice (i.e., don't ask the opinion of someone who does not know what they're talking about). Wisdom can also be obtained by other means as:

“True Wisdom Most Often Comes from Bitter Experience... Considered!”
 - Mark Dawson

And the more bitter experiences that you consider, the wiser you can become. But do not let your bitter experience turn into bitterness, but instead utilize it to become a wiser person. Doing so will alleviate the bitterness and lead to a more contented life.

When attempting to discover the truth, you should also make sure that you have all the facts of the situation, for, without all the facts, it is most unlikely that you can uncover the truth. In this, it is best to remember one of my quotes:

“There are three sides to every story: one side, the other side, and the truth. And it is always best to determine the truth before voicing an opinion.”
- Mark Dawson

It is not always possible to discover all the facts, but you should try to gather as many of the facts as possible when you are adding to your knowledge base. You should also keep in mind another “Truisms”:

“Everyone is entitled to their own opinions,
but they are not entitled to their own facts.”
 - New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan

Therefore, be careful to distinguish between facts and opinions, and make sure that the facts are correct before utilizing them in your opinions.

As in my previous quotes of Benjamin Franklin, which he so wisely pointed out, a wise person is also not afraid to change their mind based on new, corrected, or better information or upon further reasoning. A wise person also realizes that they could be wrong and listens to other wise people to determine if they may be wrong. Also, after reasoning on a subject, wise people will consider the positive and negative consequences of their conclusion and then incorporate these consequences back into their reasoning to reach a better conclusion. A wise person will also pay attention to other people’s reasoning. They do so by first carefully reading or listening to another's reasoning, then afterward critique and not criticize the reasoning before they respond to another's reasoning. Very rarely will a wise person interrupt someone during an intellectual discussion or debate, as they realize that the reasoning of others needs to be fully stated, then critiqued, to respond appropriately and wisely. This non-interruption of others may be a good indicator (but not always, as they may simply be unknowledgeable) that you are observing a wise person. Only when the other person is making an outrageous claim or is patently disseminating false information will a wise person interrupt them to correct their claims or false information.

Conclusions

Information, Understanding, Intelligence, Experience, and Wisdom are required to make wise choices in your life. Your proper understanding of "Common Sense" can be a guide in all these steps, and the insight you have acquired from your past words and deeds will also guide your wisdom. You should also listen to the advice of others who have obtained a knowledge base and wisdom, but beware that before acting upon their advice as you should consider that they may be wrong.

If you apply all the above to your own life, you may discover that it can be a burden. A burden because it is difficult and time-consuming to obtain a knowledge base and wisdom. A burden because you will also recognize your own, others, and society’s shortcomings, and you will no longer be as accepting of excuses for yourself and others, but you may become more accepting of the proper reasoning of others. You will also recognize the reasons for what is happening in your life and others’ lives, as well as what is occurring in society. This will help you to better understand how to improve your own life and assist in improving others’ lives, as well as how to improve society if you should decide to apply your knowledge base and wisdom. And applying your knowledge base and wisdom in your life will help set you free to experience life to its fullest and assist you in discovering truths.

I believe that I have obtained the knowledge base and wisdom to comment on various topics within my Chirps, Articles, and Observations. I make no claims of being an expert, but I have a breadth of knowledge and wisdom, along with some depth, that I think qualifies me to write my Chirps, Articles, and Observations. Where I don’t believe that I have a sufficient knowledge base or wisdom to comment, I have remained silent or stated so. This is also the reason why there are many topics not covered in my Chirps, Articles, and Observations. Hopefully, I have also gained a knowledge base and wisdom that I can impart to the readers of these Chirps, Articles, and Observations.

You should also remember the following quote as you apply your knowledge base and wisdom to your life:

“Man is always prey to his truths. Once he has admitted them, he cannot free himself from them.”
 - Albert Camus

Therefore, be warned that once you incorporate Information, Understanding, Intelligence, Experience, and Wisdom into your life, you cannot be free of the truths that they reveal.