Shared Thoughts as We Look at 2016

The following article is from my brother who shares an interesting perspective on knowledge and our busy lives today!
  Philosophy and The News

By Hugh Williams -

Knowledge, Communication, and Time

There are recurring news stories expressing concern over literacy rates among the citizens of New Brunswick and the performance of New Brunswick students on standardized tests. This assumes some common understanding of what knowledge is and its importance for society. What might that common understanding be?

Plato who greatly influenced our intellectual culture through his writings explored the question of knowledge but ultimately was inconclusive in his findings for good reason. The question of knowledge goes to the core of our very humanity, so it seems. It is a question of deep contemplation in the philosophical tradition and so is seldom asked or is purposely avoided in the public arena today.

At one time the primary concern for those who believed in knowledge was to overcome the challenge of scepticism and the troubling question of “how do you know?”. How do you know your viewpoint is not mere opinion based upon mere appearance? How do you get from mere appearance to certain fact? These questions of the sceptic have plagued the academic discussion of the question of knowledge for centuries. 

Practical people aren’t much interested in these sorts of general questions. We in our practical life assume we get from appearances to reality all the time and that knowledge somehow helps us do it. As parents we believe our children in their schooling should be acquiring knowledge and not mere opinions if they are to effectively function and compete in the world. This knowledge of the schools for the most part is based upon the authority of the sources….the teacher, the books, the computer and seldom upon genuine enquiry. We might be more subtle and make a distinction between knowledge as content and knowledge as means of getting at the facts. Because we are limited in how many facts we can cram into our heads we prefer to have learned reliable methods for getting knowledge. We hope and trust our schools will teach methods of genuine enquiry at least to some degree.

It is clear that knowledge is understood to be more important than ever. We talk today of the knowledge economy. The understanding of knowledge implied is that of the effective use of information so as to give one a competitive advantage. The key distinction is no longer between opinion and knowledge but between information and knowledge. Knowledge is defined as the effective use of information for achieving agreed upon ends.

And as our life and organizations become more and more complex we simply don’t have much time to discuss the ends or their origins, we simply need to get the jobs set out before us done as effectively as possible. Knowledge becomes understood in terms of power and for most of us as workers or students it has to do with the power to function effectively within some established system. 

Today the amount of information that is produced and amassed electronically is beyond imagination. Someone recently estimated that there is about 200 books worth of information in various forms being generated for each man, woman, and child on the planet every single year. Thus the reframing of the knowledge problem in terms of the effective use of information makes compelling sense practically so it seems.

The other significant change that has been occurring is that knowledge once only thought to be the psychological possession of individuals is now thought to be also the possession of organizations. With information technology functioning as it is today, it seems knowledge is intimately related to technology and organizations in ways we do not adequately understand. Knowledge as effective use of information is now embedded in a technological matrix of codified procedures for interpreting and managing data within a complex of roles within complicated organizations. Knowledge is now understood in terms of technology thus the reason for the new definition that has come before us – knowledge is the effective use of information for the achievement of goals. Knowledge essentially has become a means to some given end.

What worries me as we become busier and busier within our various systems is that we will discuss publicly various means but there will be little time for the public discussion of ends. What are our goals? How do we sort out our goals as desired goods we propose to pursue as individuals, groups, and as a society. Socrates, Plato’s teacher, argued that knowledge was virtue….that we could not understand knowledge except in relation to the good. If I understand his point, he seems to be saying that knowledge is not simply the acquisition of established truths and doctrines. Rather knowledge, he believed, has to do with right action based on a better understanding of one’s proper place and function in life as a human being. Such knowledge he believed was developed slowly over years of reflection, study, and playful (though at times rigorous) discussion among friends. This friendly relationship was to be based upon more than conviviality, which was essential to the Platonic tradition of dialogue with others. It was based also upon a commitment to the good of justice……an ethical good that is also very difficult to define. What was clear was that knowledge unrelated to this good was not true knowledge. The new definition of knowledge as the effective use of information for competitive advantage is off the mark. My concern is that as we become busier and busier we will lose the conceptual tools and the skills for recognizing and pursuing these very questions.

For example….someone wrote me recently of the difficulty of getting together to talk about matters we both agreed were important. They suggested that communication was derived from the time we have to use, and that time is so scarce it seems. I’ve come to see things differently. The time we have to use, I believe, is derived from our communication (when understood in its deepest sense). I hope we can get together to discuss this difference….. as well as how to get the job done. 

Hugh Williams, Debec, NB