Different types of Knowledge

Knowledge can be defined as the the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association, acquaintance with or understanding of a science, art, or technique. There are different types of knowledge, one can be expressed in words and symbols. For example, mathematics and musics scores need to be expressed with words and symbols because both topics require graphic expression to be understand. The other type of knowledge does not need words or symbols to be expressed, this is called intrinsic knowledge. An example that represents intrinsic knowledge is a child that is learning to ride a bicycle needs to learn how to maintain balance by himself. Another example that portrays intrinsic knowledge can be represented by two chefs cooking with the same recipe but the dishes come up differently because of intuition. 

As an illustration of knowledge that needs symbols or words to be expressed it can be said that mathematics qualifies to this statement because it needs to be learn through words and symbols because it has been pr-established that way. For example the Pythagorean theorem: that states In any right triangle, the area of the square whose side is the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the areas of the squares whose sides are the two legs.

Learning mathematics requires symbols

Mathematics is a the field that is common throughout the universe. Everything is made out of mathematics. This field of study is represented through symbols to the human eye because it is to broad to memorise it all. This theorem need symbols in order to be understood because it cannot be clearly explained through words because it involves not only numbers that are symbols but it also demands previous apprehension for right triangles which are shapes.

Another example in mathematics that requires symbols are the venn diagrams that show all hypothetically possible logical relations between a finite collection of sets. This type of learning also needs the help of symbols to be able to be taught because using only words to clear up doubts can result really demanding and my result uncertain for the knower.

Music Scores, a Symbol Language

Every input to our senses is a stimulus, available for us to interpret as information, and from which we can derive further information. Our physical sensory receptors (our ears, eyes, etc.) can well be thought of as information "transducers" which convert external stimuli (changes in air pressure, light, etc.) into nerve impulses recognized by the brain. Music scores also portray the type of knowledge that require symbols because the composer of the musical piece writes using symbols. He or she also uses symbols to share the piece with the audience. Sheet music can be used as a record of, a guide to, or a means to perform, a piece of music. Although it does not take the place of the sound of a performed work, sheet music can be studied to create a performance and to elucidate aspects of the music that may not be obvious from mere listening. There are some pr-established symbols that represent the different notes that musicians combine in order to create the music we hear. Recently, scientific research on this topic has been growing rapidly, as scholars from diverse disciplines, including linguistics, cognitive science, music cognition, and neuroscience are drawn to the music-language interface as one way to explore the extent to which different mental abilities are processed by separate brain mechanisms.

Examples of Intrinsic knowledge

An example for intrinsic knowledge can be represented by a kid that is learning how to ride a bicycle. His or her parents can teach the child the technique of riding a bicycle but no one can teach how to maintain the balance because that is something that the persons just knows. Maintaining balance while riding a bicycle cannot be taught by someone because every person has a different technique to perform the act. It is an experience and a perception that the person has after having hours or even days of practice. After a while the child will be riding the bike without any difficulty because that is the kind of knowledge the kid has but doesn’t know he or she has inside. This portrays intrinsic knowledge that is what the person knows without even realizing that he or she knows it. It is the knowledge and thought processes that people take for granted and think everyone knows but that they really don’t.

Another example of knowledge that does not require the use of symbols to be expressed can be the situation where two chefs with the same abilities share a recipe but at the end the dishes come up with different tastes. This situation is similar to the kid learning how to ride a bicycle because the chefs have their personal way of cooking although both have the same abilities.

Different examples in real life of knowledge

Chefs have different ways of cooking, they maybe didn't follow the recipe to the letter and may change it based on intuition to come up with what they think is the best result. Each chef has a particular way of cooking that represents for him or she the correct way based on what every individual knows as true and intuits as correct. So according to this example one of the chefs has altered the recipe because he or she knows is doing the correct thing to come up with the perfect dish.    

As an international student, community service is required as part of my integer formation, my school in Colombia has a project that supports a low-income elementary school in Cali. I am part of the project that is teaching the children the basis of english language. Each wednesday I teach a group of 30 kids of different ages. After each class I hear the thanks of all of the kids and I see the joy in their faces of learning something new. That feeling after every wednesday cannot be represented in words or symbols because is something that I have the privilege of having and many teenagers as myself don’t. It is a feeling that sometimes I take for granted and think all of my classmates have but they really don’t.

Intrinsic knowledge in a golfers life

When a golfer is playing a tournament and is playing well enough to be in the top 10 of the tournament, sometimes just before doing the shot the person knows how the shot is going to be. To be more specific when I am in competition and I have a definitive putt to do I sometimes know I am going to do it correctly without analyzing the slope and without thinking it throughly. This is because I have the confidence doing that specific shot and I have something that tells me It is the right decision. This is another example of intrinsic knowledge because I as the knower doing the shot have the feeling and the knowledge that I can’t put into words or symbols to describe that impulse of doing the correct shot.

In conclusion there are different types of knowledge in the human understanding, one that can be named the common knowledge that includes words and symbols and the intrinsic knowledge the one that every person has but it is not expressed with words nor symbols. Every human uses both types of knowledge in the daily basis to do everything. Common knowledge can be taught with the use of books or even watching a TV program or listening to the radio whereas intrinsic language cannot be taught human through human because it is something every person develops through the years and it is very important to complement the understanding of life as a whole. 


Bibliography:

• Christine G. “is a rectangle a square? developing mathematical vocabulary and conceptual understanding”  HYPERLINK "http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a+o&d=50267573" http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a+o&d=500257378
• Elfrieda H. Hibert” Teaching and learning vocabulary, bringing research to practice”  HYPERLINK "http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a+o&d=50267573" http://www.questiaschool.com/PM.qst?a+o&d=110160487.
• Lewis Hyde “ Liberty to communicate”  HYPERLINK "http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMulriem.do?multistand" http://literature.proquestlearning.com/quick/displayMulriem.do?multistandresultsid+134b2(06,02,12)