The psychology of knowledge
On theories of knowledge and factors that affects human knowledge.
To understand the philosophy and psychology of knowledge, we must focus on the theories of knowledge and the factors that affect the human being. When we say “Knowledge is power”, it definitely means that when we are armed with knowledge, we feel the power of the world in us. Knowledge makes us powerful and strong and that is why it is so important. Some people think that money is power. Is not true. Say if you leave this planet and go to live on Mars. Your coins and all the money will be of no use. But if you have enough knowledge on how to survive the planetary conditions of Mars, that will help you stay alive.
We must first try to understand “what is knowledge?”. There is no general consensus about what knowledge is or how it is acquired. Knowledge is derived from “knowing” and knowing can be believing that something is true. But is belief the same as knowledge? Not really. Because you may believe in ghosts or spirits, but you don’t really know who or what these spirits are. But you know that the earth rotates once every 24 hours because there is scientific evidence. You know that the tree in your garden will bear fruit during certain times of the year, so you believe that you will get the fruit during that time. So what we see here is that all knowledge creates belief, but all belief is not knowledge.
So the next question is obviously “how is knowledge acquired?” To answer this question, we need to understand the different theories of knowledge.
theories of knowledge
Empiricism or Empirical Analysis
Among the most influential theories of knowledge is empiricism or empirical knowledge, empiricism was developed as a theory to describe scientific or observational knowledge. So, empirical knowledge is the knowledge obtained through observation or through the use of the senses. This is the method of scientific inquiry when you use observation or the power of the senses to derive knowledge. Scientific experimentation uses the observational method and finally the experimental or analysis method is based on the senses. What you see, hear, touch, smell or taste helps to acquire knowledge. But is this the last or the only knowledge? No, because our senses are limited. Therefore, the knowledge obtained from the scientific data could be limited.
Rationalism or Logical Analysis
Another form of knowledge is knowledge gained through rational analysis or logic. Logical analysis is what you do when you come to a logical conclusion from a set of data or principles. For example, when you have symptoms of high temperature, headaches, weakness, etc., you come to a logical analysis that you are sick. When you see overcast skies, black clouds and rain forecasts on TV, you come to a logical analysis that it will rain and you should bring your umbrella or raincoat. We consider certain premises or factors, try to understand their interrelationships, and then come to logical conclusions. So rational analysis is also a method of knowing because it uses facts or factors to know something or derive a conclusion.
Experientialism or Experiential Analysis
Experientialism is experiential knowledge or knowledge derived from experience. The term was first propagated by Lakoff and Johnson in 1980. Experientialism is experiential knowledge, so it is possible to suggest that we actively analyze our experiences in order to derive knowledge and understanding from these experiences. You know from experience that a plane picks up speed on the runway before taking off, or that soaking in the rain can give you the chills. You know from experience that your dog will greet you enthusiastically when he comes home, but his wife may not be too excited. This is experiential knowledge. Experiential knowledge is important in understanding the psychology of knowledge, as human experiences are at the center of many psychological theories, including psychoanalysis.
Literalism or Literal Analysis
Knowledge is often obtained from an obvious source: books. I call this literalism or literal analysis, since it may not be related to critical or literary analysis, but to a literal analysis of what you have read or understood. Books, articles, Internet sources, and the written word help us gain meaningful knowledge about the world. This is what we can describe as literary or literal analysis and the process of acquiring knowledge is literalism. Either we are critical of what we read or we accept what we read. Either way, we learn and gain knowledge from all reading sources and this is an important method of gaining knowledge. When you systematically study the Psychology of Human Knowledge, you must consider how the individual acquired the knowledge from books, documents, the Internet, or other sources. Knowledge acquired during adolescence or young adulthood is very significant as it will shape the mind and create or influence thinking. Therefore, when you are studying the mind of a terrorist, try to understand what sources of reading may have influenced him. Some people are more influenced by what they read than by what they experience or hear. The power of the book or the Internet is immense. Reading creates beliefs and there may be no rational explanation for why certain people believe certain things, although reading greatly influences thinking.
Innatism or Internal Analysis
This type of knowledge has to do with internal knowledge or happens due to the internal processing of knowledge that is already embedded in us. Plato, the Greek philosophers, other ancient philosophers, and prophets have repeatedly emphasized knowledge of the soul. Internal analysis deals with the knowledge that already exists within us or the knowledge that we are born with. Call it the Jungian collective unconscious or call it the soul, internal analysis is about gaining access to knowledge embedded deep within us. So this is innate knowledge or wisdom and one of the most important types of knowledge that could be considered a priori or not acquired through observation or experience. To understand innate knowledge, psychologists must study the wisdom and soul knowledge of wonders. Some prodigies are born with a powerful soul or innate knowledge and display their remarkable abilities only a few years after birth. Studying the talents and wisdom of prodigies would provide significant insight into the soul knowledge of human beings. Fostering this knowledge would be essential to developing talents in children and wisdom in adults.
I will now turn to the factors of knowledge. What are the factors that affect human knowledge? Theories of knowledge show how knowledge is acquired, but factors help us identify the mechanisms or processes responsible for human knowledge. Knowledge has to do with habit, perhaps your reading or writing habits that will help you develop knowledge, about the beliefs and attitudes that you develop in childhood, about your subjective understanding of the world, and is associated to a great extent with their interests and inclinations to know the world. world in a particular way. If you are a psychologist, trying to understand the process of knowing in human beings, how would you do it? Start with a quiz that will determine the five types of knowledge listed above. Determine what type of knowledge has strongly affected the subject and draw conclusions from it about what type of knowledge analysis would best describe the individual’s personality. It is important to develop a knowledge analysis model in psychology considering the five theories that I have described above.
I’m done for now. We will go to the next chapter.
