Knowledge

Knowing has a few levels. Each one is dependent on all the last ones

For more info and future research on this page see this article
 * 1) Participatory knowing == Relevance realization, or self organizing criticality forming small world networks
 * 2) Perspectival knowing
 * 3) Procedural knowing
 * 4) Propositional knowing

Excerpt
Participatory knowing refers to knowing how to act in the “agent-arena” environment. It is simultaneously one of the most basic and most profound kinds of knowing. One way to think about participatory knowledge is to consider the difference between being in a state of confusion versus a state of flow. Flow is when you are in a groove and feel a natural “dance” between your actions and the environment, and an example of participatory knowledge.

Perspectival knowing refers to knowing via embodied perception. It consists of seeing the world and one’s place in it via a specific point of view, and understanding (or not) the key aspects of a situation.

Procedural knowing means knowing how to do something. This can be very complicated, like knowing how to complete surgery or something simple like tying one’s shoe.

Finally, there is propositional knowing, which is knowing that something is true. This kind of knowing is closely tied to language and justification (see here for more on the 4 Ps and their implications for modern society).


 * Propositional knowledge (episteme): For example, knowing that energy and mass are equivalent or that Paris is the capital of France.
 * Procedural knowledge (techne): For example, knowing how to compose a symphony or how to throw a baseball perfectly. Often people who are capable of doing such things are unable to put this knowledge into a list of propositions. Moreover, one can’t learn how to be an expert pitcher by reading textbooks on baseball.
 * Perspectival knowledge (noesis): For example, knowing what it’s like to see Earth from the Moon or what it is like to be a human living in the post-World War Two Germany..
 * Participatory knowledge (gnosis): knowing by sharing a fundamental identity with something, a knowing by becoming, which also comes with a certain degree of imitation and internalisation. It’s the knowing you get by binding your identity to something and letting your identity being transformed in conjunction with how that thing is transforming. For example, knowing how to coordinate with your team to win the NBA Championship or how to be a parent by participating in parenthood or how you know a person you love. You don’t just have beliefs about a person you love, or some particular skill that allows you to “work” with them. You know them by how differently you know yourself and the world in knowing them.