Examples Of Shared Knowledge

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“Knowledge is wasted if not shared” – J.M Cornwell Although this title automatically assumes that shared knowledge shapes personal knowledge, J.M Cornell highlights that knowledge begins as personal which then evolves into shared knowledge. He argues that personal knowledge does not fulfill the purpose of knowledge for only when shared can it be tested and timeless. The verb “to know” tends to have two first person forms in many languages, “I know” and “we know”. “I know” refers to personal knowledge that is gained through empirical methods and personal involvement, typically entwined with the local circumstances of the individual. “We know” reflects shared knowledge that tends to be highly structured, systematic in nature and can often be…show more content…
Most of the religions in the world are fundamentally ruled by guiding regulations that followers are expected to obey; most of these regulations are interpretations from a holy text or developed from a religious leader and therefore regulations and have evolved throughout the years. An example of this developing nature is Pope Francis’ positive approach towards the LGBT community that is completely opposing his predecessors. When asked about homosexuality Pope Francis argued “Who am I to judge them if they're seeking the Lord in good faith?”, with such an answer he was capable of redefining the personal knowledge of many. Roman Catholics consider the Pope an authority in the religion therefore his reestablishment of beliefs towards homosexuality has provided a change in people’s faith. The shared religious knowledge available through sources such as the Pope often shapes one’s personal knowledge and faith. The personal knowledge of followers is established by a combination of their own interpretations and those considered an authority as well as their reasoning towards considering one interpretation more relevant than another. The Pope’s personal faith was defined by his reasoning towards an attraction to one interpretation of God’s words over another.…show more content…
Gallinsky, clearly indicated the faults in our own perception and reasoning by providing evidence that depicts the unreliability of the effect of shared knowledge on personal knowledge. For the experiment an actor dressed as a doctor using scientific language was asked to “deduce” a patient’s medical issue while another real doctor dressed in casual clothes using colloquial language was asked to do the same. All the patients believed the actor and assumed that the casual doctor was unreliable and wrong. Evidently this highlights the effect of the shared knowledge of how a doctor is meant to look and talk can effect one’s perception and reasoning. Due to prejudice effected by shared knowledge our perception and reasoning becomes unreliable. This highlights the unreliability of our interpretation of shared knowledge, our lack of inquiry into the missing shared knowledge and also investigates whether shared knowledge is reliable enough for us to allow it to influence our personal knowledge. Taking into consideration the above example it is clear that the effect of shared knowledge can often lead to a degrading in the quality of personal knowledge due to skewed perceptions and reasoning. All the patients were limited by their assumptions that were guided by the shared knowledge that influences their
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