The Quality Of Knowledge And Its Measurement By The Extent Of Acceptance

This is an essay for TOK in the IB syllabus. The prescribed title is: "The quality of knowledge is best measured by how many people accept it." Discuss this claim with reference to two areas of knowledge.

The files will contain what I need to do specifically, could you please follow that. And please use resources that can be found online and not books as the references are easier to read from and access. Thank you

Knowledge is anything which can enhance the cognitive development of an individual and thereby make that individual more aware of the present situation or scenarios. I am of the viewpoint that the quality or the effectiveness of knowledge is determined by the manner in which it improves the quality of life of the individuals. More importantly, often it is seen that a piece of knowledge even though it can prove beneficial for the individuals is refuted because of the lack of ability of individuals to accept the knowledge in a meaningful manner. Furthermore, I believe that the quality of knowledge is determined to a large extent on the manner in which it is being accepted by the people. In this essay I will argue the fact that “the quality of knowledge is best measured by how many people accept it”.   

Psouni, Di Folco and Zavattini are of the viewpoint that the construct of language determines to a great extent the manner in which knowledge would be accepted by an individual. In this regard, language can be seen as a mental faculty, which helps an individual to not only understand complex communication styles and processes but also to use it in an effective manner. However, it is often seen that because of the usage of complex language the individuals are being unable to comprehend knowledge which can actually prove to be beneficial for them in the longer run. More importantly, the complex or the obsolete language which has been used for describing the concerned knowledge deters the individuals from correlating the new notion with the ones that they are familiar with because of their past experiences. According to bioline.org, if the individuals are not being able to correlate with the knowledge subconsciously, then they are likely to find the new knowledge which has been propounded to them very difficult to accept. I completely agree with this idea that the language which has been used for conveying knowledge determines to a great extent whether it will be accepted by the people or not and thereby its quality. In this context, I would like to cite a personal experience wherein I was supposed to read the poetry of Chaucer for the very first time. Chaucer wrote in the Old English style and thus the majority of his poetry is incomprehensible to the modern readers even though the ideas or the knowledge that they intent to convey to the readers are of great value. Naturally, I found that the ideas propounded by Chaucer were of no value to me because of my inability to decipher the text. Thus, in this regard, I would say that the quality of the knowledge was determined by me on the basis of my ability to accept it.

The quality of knowledge is not determined by the language which has been used to express the knowledge and also the value of knowledge stands on its own. More importantly, the quality of knowledge is determined by the utility or the manner in which the concerned knowledge helps the individuals to improve the quality of their lives. In this regard, mention needs to be made regarding the knowledge which has been transmitted us by the subject of Mathematics. It is pertinent to note that although the majority of the ideas, which the subject under discussion here are incomprehensible to the people yet the effectiveness as well as the usefulness of these notions can in no way be denied. Furthermore, it can also be said that these ideas which the subject under discussion propounds have been utilized for the designing as well as the manufacture of different kinds of equipment and other things which has improved the quality of life of the individuals in a substantial manner. However, I would like to say that it is true that the notions or the knowledge propounded by Mathematics has improved the quality of life of the individuals but at the same time needs to be said that they are not being readily accepted by the common people. The effective utilization of the ideas propounded by Mathematics is limited to a selected few people and thus it can be said that it does not help the greater population of the world. One of the most plausible reasons for it is the fact that the people are not being able to understand or decipher the language of Mathematics and thus despite being useful it is not be readily accepted by the people.

Mathematics and Acceptability

As opined by Flach, reason is another factor which not only determines the quality of knowledge but at the same its acceptance by the people as well. For example, it is seen that the process of reasoning helps the individuals to understand the utility of any knowledge but also to draw relevant conclusions regarding it. More importantly, the human brain has a tendency to relate these perform these acts of reasoning on the basis of their prior experiences. Furthermore, it is seen that these acts of reasoning are to a large extent determined by the cultural as well as the social background of the individual who is trying to decipher the meaning of knowledge. For example, it is seen that the people who have been brought up in liberal cultures are more inclined to accept new knowledge as well as process in comparison to the people who have been brought up in conservative or orthodox cultures. In addition to this, the ethnicity of the individuals also plays a substantial role in determining the quality as well as the acceptance of the concerned knowledge by the people. In this regard, it needs to be mentioned that the acceptance of new knowledge is a lower among the aboriginals and other similar individuals in comparison to the other people. In this regard, the gradual evolution of the reasoning and cognition of the individuals (theory of evolution) also play an important role. I completely agree with the fact that reason plays an important role in the process of acceptance of knowledge and also determining the quality of the same. For example, when the knowledge of the business shares and sensex was being conveyed to me I was unable to comprehend the quality of it and thus unable to accept because of my inability to reason it out despite its usefulness.

Psouni, Di Folco and Zavattini are of the viewpoint that the process of reason is not the sole factor on the basis of which the quality of knowledge should be determined since it is seen that the majority of the individuals have limited knowledge regarding the theoretical concepts. More importantly, this limited knowledge of the individuals not only deters them to comprehend the actual meaning or the significance of a particular knowledge but affects the acceptance of the same. In addition to this, in the majority of the cases it is seen that the people use the kind of knowledge in their everyday lives of which they have no idea or they are unable to comprehend the reasoning behind it. However, they still go on using it because of the value or the benefits that the concerned knowledge offers them. In this regard, it can be said that the people have a very limited amount of knowledge regarding the various disruptive technologies which are dominating the world currently. Furthermore, they are also not being able to understand the reason behind the working of these technologies yet the majority of individuals are using them because of the benefits that they offer. However, I disagree with this viewpoint since I personally believe that if an individual is not being able to reason out a particular knowledge then a part of its value or quality gets lost.

To conclude, knowledge is a subjective entity and its definition as well as utility differs from one individual to another. However, most of the individuals concur on the viewpoint that the quality of knowledge depends to a large extent on the manner in which it being accepted by the individuals. In this regard, the concepts of emotion, reason, sensory perceptions, language and others play a significant role since it is seen that the acceptance as well as the understanding of knowledge depends to a large extent of these factors. The entity of language is important since if the individuals are not being to understand the meaning of knowledge then its quality gets lost. In likewise manner, if the individuals are not being able to reason out the knowledge which has been conveyed to them, then once again the quality of the same time gets lost. Thus, it can be said that the quality of knowledge depends to a large extent on the manner in which it is perceived or accepted by the individuals.

References

Better Knowledge Of Evolution Leads To Greater Acceptance Of The Concept. 2018. Phys.Org. https://phys.org/news/2018-02-knowledge-evolution-greater-concept.html.

Flach, Peter. 2018. "Modern Logic And Its Role In The Study Of Knowledge". Semanticscholar.Org. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/7e17/12fd17653222be0e896867eda64e0e4340d0.pdf.

It's Taken Thousands Of Years, But Western Science Is Finally Catching Up To Traditional Knowledge. 2018. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/its-taken-thousands-of-years-but-western-science-is-finally-catching-up-to-traditional-knowledge-90291.

Jahn, Katharina, Oliver Heger, Henrik Kampling, Krzysztof Stanik, and Björn Niehaves. "Designing For Knowledge-Based Familiarity, Trust, And Acceptance: The Case Of Affective Technology." (2017): 3224. Retrieved from https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2017_rip/70/

Knowledge & Reasons | Issue 96 | Philosophy Now. 2018. Philosophynow.Org. https://philosophynow.org/issues/96/Knowledge_and_Reasons.

Psouni, Elia, Simona Di Folco, and Giulio Cesare Zavattini. "Scripted secure base knowledge and its relation to perceived social acceptance and competence in early middle childhood." Scandinavian journal of psychology 56, no. 3 (2015): 341-348. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/sjop.12208

The Relationship Among Knowledge Of, Attitudes Toward And Acceptance Of Genetically Modified Organisms (Gmos) Among Slovenian Teachers. 2018. Bioline.Org.Br. https://www.bioline.org.br/pdf?ej09036.

Theory Of Knowledge By Bertrand Russell. 2018. Marxists.Org. https://www.marxists.org/reference/subject/philosophy/works/en/russell1.htm.