2.

There are only two ways in which humankind can produce knowledge:
through passive observation or through active experiment. To what extent do
you agree with this statement?
At the most basic level, all knowledge is derived through passive observation or active
experimentation. Passive observation refers to knowledge produced from direct sensory
experiences and active experimentation refers to knowledge gained by directly
manipulating some variables and observing changes as a result.
For example, in the area of knowledge of mathematics, we learn about concepts
through a combination of passive observation and active experimentation. In my calculus
class, I learned how to calculate the area under a curve in a two dimensional space by
using sense perception and language to read about the theory in my textbook. I used
deductive reasoning to understand the system of axioms which comprised the derivation
of the integral formula. I completed a few practice problems to apply this concept. These
problems varied in the magnitude of the limits of integration, steps needed to complete
the integration of the function and other factors. This variation of variables made the
knowledge I gained from solving the problems a form of active experimentation and my
use of reason, sense perception and language to understand the theory was a form of
passive observation.
In this personal experience, no other mechanism of knowledge production was
necessary for me to understand the math concept, which begs the question: Is there
any other way to produce knowledge aside from passive observation and active
experimentation? Imagination1 and intuition2 are two ways of knowing that seemingly
1 Imagination is often identified in a narrow sense as the capacity to form a mental
representation of something without the stimulus of sense experience
https://ibpublishing.ibo.org/exist/rest/app/tsm.xql?
doc=d_0_tok_gui_1304_1_e&part=2&chapter=3
2 Intuition is sometimes described as immediate cognition, or knowledge which is
immediately evident without prior inference, evidence or justification (ibid)

have no basis in observation or experimentation, yet both can function as mechanisms

to produce knowledge.

When Newton3 originally discovered the area formula described earlier, he had no
prior sensory experience of it. The concept of infinitesimally small differences, a concept
integral (pun not intended) to the formation of the formula is an imaginary concept. It
can be visualized in the mind but cannot be directly observed in reality. Therefore, one
can argue that imagination was necessary for Newton to develop the area formula.
Like imagination, intuition has also contributed to similarly notable advancements in
knowledge. In the natural sciences especially, scientists often report flashes of
awareness or knowing, sometimes dubbed as Eureka!4 moments when they make a
discovery. A classic example of the role of intuition in the natural sciences is when the
German chemist August Kekule discovered the tetravalent structure of carbon, the
cornerstone of all organic chemistry in a dream. He similarly solved the puzzling
structure of the benzene molecule when he dreamt of a snake spinning in a circle, when
he awoke he realized that benzene had a circular structure, not linear like the chemical
compounds known at that time. Dreaming is definitely not a sensory experience in the
typical sense, so we can rule it out as a form of passive observation. There is also no
form of experimentation evident in the process of dreaming, so this method of producing
knowledge, along with imagination, is ..
Albeit imagination and intuitions great usefulness for solving problems and producing
knowledge, one can argue that these two ways of knowing build upon existing
knowledge derived by passive observation and active experimentation, which leads to

3 http://www.storyofmathematics.com/17th_newton.html
4 Archimedes famously uttered this word when he discovered the principle of buoyancy
in his bathtub. http://www.itsnotmagicitsscience.com/science.asp?newsid=381

the next knowledge question: To what extent are intuition and imagination dependent
upon prior knowledge and experiences?
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