A description of knowledge.

1. Sam Davin
Senior Seminar Pd. 8
Mr. Clover
August 20, 2012
What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is not a concrete concept yet is not entirely abstract. There is a range of
types of knowledge and the amount of knowledge each of us have. Knowledge is
personal to each person. Knowledge is different in each person because we all have
different perspectives based on the experiences we have had in our lives, which
differ in each person. We gain knowledge from people and the environment around
us and through our experiences in life. Knowledge is an accumulation of facts and
opinions and is constantly expanding rather than a concept that never changes.
Since knowledge is an accumulation, it affects our perceptions and observations
throughout our lives.Knowledge is the things that we believe are true. We come to
accept things based on society’s views but have no way to really know whether
these things are accurate or not. Is something true just because a group of people
believe something? We learn things in school that we don’t question, because our
teachers tell us it, making it true in our mind. Does that mean it is true though? We
believe things and “know” things because people of authority or people we trust
have told us these things, but how can we be certain what the are telling us is true?
We often use education to justify ourknowledge. The things that we know, we
believe to be true because our teachers have taught them to us. Our teachers have
higher education and positions of authority and because of that we often believe
whatever they say.
Knowledge is obviously an abstract concept, one that is not tangible or visible to the
human eye. There is no way to know for certain how much knowledge a person
possesses, because knowledge is perceived differently with each person. To one
person, knowledge could be knowing how to fix a car, while to someone else,
knowledge might be knowing every element on the periodic table. Knowledge is a
spectrum, a concept that is always changing, and there’s no way to really pinpoint
what knowledge is in a specific sense. Knowledge itself is a broad topic, open to
differing opinions on what it is and how to achieve it.Our concept of “knowledge” is
not concrete, and not entirely accurate. Many of us think our beliefs and opinions
are knowledge, but are they really? How can we judge what we really know?