Bringing knowledge to life

Name: Ali Mohamed Student: Faculty Law Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA)
We will begin by defining what is knowledge john locke defined it as the perception of the agreement or disagreement of two ideasJohn Locke (1689) BOOK IV. Of Knowledge and Probability. An Essay: Concerning Human Understanding. Locke gave us our first hint of what knowledge is all about. Since that time, others have tried to refine it. Davenport and Prusak (1998, p. 5) define knowledge as, "a fluid mix of framed experience, contextual information, values and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information." Knowledge is, roughly, useful information. It is information that's adapted to a purpose. It is good explanations, and it is solutions to problems people had. Knowledge shouldn't be expected to be perfect. A partial solution is still knowledge, even if it contains some mistakes, and can be improved on in the future. Knowledge is created by imaginative and critical thought. They key ingredients are both creativity and criticism. We need numerous ideas, including ones that aren't obvious. And we need error correction to get rid of flaws. With those two components, we can improve our knowledge and learn new things. It's also important to be sensitive to problems. Problems are opportunities to learn something new, and to improve our lives. But some people are scared of problems, or consider problems inevitable and permanent Problems can be solved and knowledge can be created. What is there to stop us? There are the laws of physics. We can never make a perpetual motion machine. And there's our preferences. If we don't want to solve a problem, we won't. And there's our knowledge. If we don't know enough about a problem then we may have to learn more before we solve it. Most people think that knowledge is justified, true belief. This is an authoritarian conception of knowledge, and a perfectionist conception. It insists that if an idea is only a partial solution, or contains a mistake, then it's not genuine knowledge. And it encourages appeals to authority which serve as justifications. If a person believes that he has a justified, true belief then he has no reason to listen to criticism of his belief, or to listen to dissenting opinions. Any idea which contradicts a true belief must be false. Therefore, all criticism is irrelevant, and anyone who disagrees is mistaken. The only thing to do is educate them, not debate with them, and not consider that they might be right and we might be able to mutually learn from each other. Confidence that one definitely knows the final truth leaves one with no reason to try to correct errors; it's actually foolish. R. C Lewontins Biology as Ideology The Doctrine of DNA states that Intellectuals in their self-flattering wish-fulfillment say that knowledge is power, but the truth is that knowledge further empowers only those who have or can acquire the power to use it.