The Structure of The Way We Know

The organisation or structure of the web site is based on the idea of Knowledge Structure Mapping. Very briefly, this is based on the way that a human expert may be expected to acquire knowledge. That is, by building new knowledge on top of other, previously acquired knowledge.

An expert, when starting out as a novice, will learn some fundamental things. Then, as he or she gains experience new knowledge will be acquired by making use of the previous fundamental knowledge. As the person becomes even more expert, newer, possibly more complex knowledge will be gained. The expert’s ability to understand the complex knowledge will rely on a prior understanding of the simpler knowledge or fundamental concepts. In this way, an expert builds a knowledge structure in a hierarchical or dependent way.

If a person is an expert chess player, then one can assume that the expert knows all of the rules governing how chess pieces move on the chess board. If the expert does not know this then surely he or she cannot be classed as an expert chess player.

Likewise, a car mechanic that can change the engine of a car in an expert way, will certainly know how to use a spanner (or wrench) correctly. This prior knowledge can be assumed.

Knowledge Structure Mapping concerns the study of knowledge and the mapping out of the expert learning hierarchy primarily for business benefit but actually as a useful way of studying knowledge.

The main menu links on the home page of this web site show that In order to know, or rather, be an expert in, the way that people know things, the expert would know about the Epistemological, Psychological, Physiological, and Social ways of knowing things or components of knowing.

Continuing this argument, if a person knew all about the epistemological aspects of knowing then that person must already know about scepticism etc.

Knowledge is worth thinking about.