A professor of mine devoted a class to the discussion of the five different ways of obtaining knowledge. I found his arguments interesting, and I agreed with everything he said. Here's a summary of what he said.
1. Tradition -
Each form is much like a tool, like a hammer or a screw driver. Each has its uses, but it would be foolish to try to apply any one tool for every situation.
Like I said, I very much agree with everything my professor said. But I think it might be possible to expand on this by adding new categories of knowledge. One that doesn't seem to fit in any of these would be personal experience. Through life, we experience things which give us new ways of thinking about the world, and possibly challenge our previous ideas.
1. Tradition -
As we grow up, we pick up certain things from our environment, especially our families. These traditions govern the way we react to certain situations. Sometimes we don't even realize these traditions are there until we run into some kind of conflict.
For example, some families are very expressive of their feelings, while other families don't talk about their feelings at all. When people from these two families meet, there can be trouble. One will try to express themselves by their actions, the other by their words, and neither one can understand the other.
A darker side of tradition can be seen in abuse. Often those who grow up in an abusive environment will learn three things: (1) don't tell anyone what's really going on. (2) Don't trust anyone. (3) Don't let yourself feel. These traditions help them to survive in these troubling circumstances, but they can seriously hinder a person after they're no longer in that environment.
2. AuthorityFor example, some families are very expressive of their feelings, while other families don't talk about their feelings at all. When people from these two families meet, there can be trouble. One will try to express themselves by their actions, the other by their words, and neither one can understand the other.
A darker side of tradition can be seen in abuse. Often those who grow up in an abusive environment will learn three things: (1) don't tell anyone what's really going on. (2) Don't trust anyone. (3) Don't let yourself feel. These traditions help them to survive in these troubling circumstances, but they can seriously hinder a person after they're no longer in that environment.
Everyone looks to someone else as their source of reliable information concerning their own understanding of the world. This source could be a priest, a teacher, a TV celebrity, someone who wrote a book, or a variety of other things.
Of course, it's not easy knowing who we can trust. Anyone of them could lead us in the wrong direction and possibly destroy our trust. Others may be so blinded that they will continue to trust no matter what anyone else says.
3. Logical ReasoningOf course, it's not easy knowing who we can trust. Anyone of them could lead us in the wrong direction and possibly destroy our trust. Others may be so blinded that they will continue to trust no matter what anyone else says.
This is the tendency we have to try to make sense of the world using our own logic. Often times, rather than testing our own beliefs, we will instead attempt to build up some kind of justification for the reason we think the way we do.
Unfortunately, this method has flaws. First, anyone can come up with some reason to believe that their way of thinking is correct, it doesn't matter how true or wrong that belief is.
Second, not everything can be understood by logic alone. Many things in life are illogical. Take relationships as an example. If you try to apply your logic to the people around you, you will make some serious mistakes. People are illogical, they have emotions, and they do things that don't make sense.
Logic is a very cold way of viewing the world, because it discredits emotion.
4. IntuitionUnfortunately, this method has flaws. First, anyone can come up with some reason to believe that their way of thinking is correct, it doesn't matter how true or wrong that belief is.
Second, not everything can be understood by logic alone. Many things in life are illogical. Take relationships as an example. If you try to apply your logic to the people around you, you will make some serious mistakes. People are illogical, they have emotions, and they do things that don't make sense.
Logic is a very cold way of viewing the world, because it discredits emotion.
This is the feeling one has in the gut that tells them to do something. The person who has this gut feeling may not be able to explain the reason why they feel they do, but this does not mean that there isn't a reason.
For some people, intuition tends to lead them to countless bad decisions. But for others, their intuition almost always seems to lead them in the right direction.
The weakness of intuition is that it cannot be verified. If you can't explain why you feel the way you do, then others cannot know whether or not to trust that feeling of yours.
5. The Scientific MethodFor some people, intuition tends to lead them to countless bad decisions. But for others, their intuition almost always seems to lead them in the right direction.
The weakness of intuition is that it cannot be verified. If you can't explain why you feel the way you do, then others cannot know whether or not to trust that feeling of yours.
We all know what the scientific method is. Science takes what is observable (sensory), measurable, and repeatable, and they study it to achieve some understanding of the world.
The positive side to the scientific method is that it is objective (at least hopefully), and seeks to remove bias as much as possible. This makes the information gained very reliable.
However, like the other four ways of obtaining knowledge, the scientific method had its weaknesses. Much of reality is not observable by the senses, it's unable to be measured, and it's unrepeatable.
Take love as an example. Can we put love in a test tube? Can we see, taste, smell, hear, or touch love? No, we can't. But we can take the observable manifestations of love and study that. What's the problem with that? Well, for one, we can take a couple of actors to give a very good impression of everything we can observe from two people in love, and we can't tell the difference.
A second problem with the scientific method is that it distorts reality through a process called reduction. Reduction is when you take something big which cannot be studied, and you reduce it to a simplified form which can be studied. Sometimes, this is the best science can do, but it leads to imperfect, and possibly misleading results.
What about one-time events? If you can't repeat an event, you cannot study it, but does that make the event any less real?
Many people trust science like a religion, rejecting the other four forms of knowledge. To them, the word "unscientific" is a dirty word. Anything unscientific isn't worth learning about. These individuals like to try to make people of religious faith to feel stupid and ignorant for believing in something they can't prove scientifically to be real.
Recently, scientists have discovered a substance called dark matter, which they believe to fill more space in the universe than non-dark matter. The problem is, dark matter is by nature unobservable. We know it's there because certain things just don't seem to make sense without it, but science cannot touch it. And this drives scientists crazy.
Another problem with science is that the conclusions drawn from it often reverse themselves. Often times, technological advances are to blame for this, as they give us new ways of observing the world that were unavailable in the past.
Back in the 1970's, there was a sudden shortage in the fossil fuels Americans relied on for transportation. At this time, some of the smartest people in the world of various specialties gathered together to attempt to predict how long it will be until all the world's supply of fossil fuels would be used up. They predicted it would all be gone in twenty years (1990).
Obviously, that didn't happen. And now, new scientific data suggests that we will never run dry on the stuff.
Scientists used to believe that babies could not think, and that they were basically vegetables until two months of age. Now science suggests that babies are capable of thought even in the womb.
The point of all this is simple: all five forms of knowledge have their strengths and weaknesses. Relying solely on any one type of knowledge can lead to problems.The positive side to the scientific method is that it is objective (at least hopefully), and seeks to remove bias as much as possible. This makes the information gained very reliable.
However, like the other four ways of obtaining knowledge, the scientific method had its weaknesses. Much of reality is not observable by the senses, it's unable to be measured, and it's unrepeatable.
Take love as an example. Can we put love in a test tube? Can we see, taste, smell, hear, or touch love? No, we can't. But we can take the observable manifestations of love and study that. What's the problem with that? Well, for one, we can take a couple of actors to give a very good impression of everything we can observe from two people in love, and we can't tell the difference.
A second problem with the scientific method is that it distorts reality through a process called reduction. Reduction is when you take something big which cannot be studied, and you reduce it to a simplified form which can be studied. Sometimes, this is the best science can do, but it leads to imperfect, and possibly misleading results.
What about one-time events? If you can't repeat an event, you cannot study it, but does that make the event any less real?
Many people trust science like a religion, rejecting the other four forms of knowledge. To them, the word "unscientific" is a dirty word. Anything unscientific isn't worth learning about. These individuals like to try to make people of religious faith to feel stupid and ignorant for believing in something they can't prove scientifically to be real.
Recently, scientists have discovered a substance called dark matter, which they believe to fill more space in the universe than non-dark matter. The problem is, dark matter is by nature unobservable. We know it's there because certain things just don't seem to make sense without it, but science cannot touch it. And this drives scientists crazy.
Another problem with science is that the conclusions drawn from it often reverse themselves. Often times, technological advances are to blame for this, as they give us new ways of observing the world that were unavailable in the past.
Back in the 1970's, there was a sudden shortage in the fossil fuels Americans relied on for transportation. At this time, some of the smartest people in the world of various specialties gathered together to attempt to predict how long it will be until all the world's supply of fossil fuels would be used up. They predicted it would all be gone in twenty years (1990).
Obviously, that didn't happen. And now, new scientific data suggests that we will never run dry on the stuff.
Scientists used to believe that babies could not think, and that they were basically vegetables until two months of age. Now science suggests that babies are capable of thought even in the womb.
Each form is much like a tool, like a hammer or a screw driver. Each has its uses, but it would be foolish to try to apply any one tool for every situation.
Like I said, I very much agree with everything my professor said. But I think it might be possible to expand on this by adding new categories of knowledge. One that doesn't seem to fit in any of these would be personal experience. Through life, we experience things which give us new ways of thinking about the world, and possibly challenge our previous ideas.
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