Knowledge is power, but what happens when you are having trouble picking up new ideas? It wasn't all that long ago in human history that our access to facts, figures, and statistics was very limited. Before artificial intelligence (AI), there were search engines like Google and Bing. At first, they were available only on computers, but then the technology shrank down so small it could fit on a mobile smartphone that travels with you in a coat pocket.
Going back in time a little bit more, television, radio, and movie theaters were avant garde. Entertainment, current events, and new ideas were spread on a mass scale using these innovations. Still, they were not interactive. You could never ask an old vacuum-tube television to pull up the funniest cat memes. Now, imagine a world in which none of these exists. For 99% of human existence, this was precisely the world we inhabited. Here are three ways we have acquired knowledge throughout history and that we continue to use today.
How do we come to know things? Put another way, "How do we know what we know?" Here are a few questions we can answer in our modern world with just a few clicks online.
Before the scientific revolution (and centuries before the internet), if we wanted to know the answer to questions like these, we could consult an expert, such as a religious leader, educated philosopher, naturalist, or village shaman. These authority figures would be happy to reveal truths about the way the world works.
For example, 25% of Americans believe the sun revolves around the Earth, according to a 2012 survey. This represents a significant shift in beliefs compared to 400 years ago when most humans believed the earth was the center of the universe and everything revolved around us. In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus challenged the ancient teaching of the Earth as the center of the universe but was unable to convince the masses. Later, Galileo Galilei boldly advocated Copernican theory, and he was forced to retract his beliefs before an inquisition. It wasn't until 1993 that the Vatican officially recognized the validity of his work.
Note: The fact that roughly 1 in 4 Americans today believe incorrectly that the sun revolves around the earth is distressing and worthy of a separate discussion.
In the 1800s, Gregor Mendel postulated the existence of small units for transmitting genetic information even though he’d never seen them. For years, before minuscule genes were eventually seen under high-powered microscopes or astronomical black holes were observed in deep space, people could choose to accept the word of the scientists. Nonexpert laypeople had no other options. Either we trust the experts, or we just make up wild explanations on our own.
In the past, if we couldn’t see something for ourselves, we would have to accept the statements of authority figures. Even today, we still do this by talking with professionals or reading scholarly publications. Today, the internet serves as an authority, but beware, not everything on the internet can be trusted.
Creative people sometimes refer to intuition or sudden insight that springs into conscious awareness as the most important step in acquiring knowledge. A person might arrive at a solution to a problem they’ve been working on for years while simply walking down the street. There is no systematic approach to acquiring knowledge using this technique. It is a mysterious process that most people can’t explain–it just happens.
Mathematician John Nash, the focus of the 2001 movie A Beautiful Mind, introduced a stable strategy for positive outcomes among multiple players in competition. In the film, he experiences an epiphany while sitting in a pub with friends, contemplating who will succeed at gaining the attention of an attractive woman. This insight into game theory ultimately led to the Nash Equilibrium and earned him the Nobel Prize in Economics.
Many artists rely on intuition because it is compatible with creative expression. A pure artist may bristle at the thought of using mathematical formulas to generate art. After all, how can you apply an equation to make things that should be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power?
When June Carter and Johnny Cash first conceived the classic tune, Ring of Fire, it did not include the signature Mexican trumpet sounds. After spending several days working on the song, Johnny Cash claims to have had a dream where he heard Mexican trumpets. He did not rely on any scientific strategies, nor did he just ask an expert how to write a great tune. Almost overnight, the song itself ascended to legendary status.
The intuitive approach looks more magical than it probably is because the ideas that seem to pop into consciousness suddenly are usually coming from minds that have spent days, if not years, on a particular subject. Neither you nor I will wake up tomorrow with the formula for cold fusion, but a physicist who spent a career studying it might. The same can be said for mathematicians, singer-songwriters, and anyone who is dedicated to the pursuit of their passions.
The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has characterized the development of science since at least the 17th century. This approach is the gold standard for generating new ideas in modern science, including psychology. It is iterative, meaning that the process often involves revisiting and refining hypotheses based on new evidence or insights gained from experimentation.
Key components of this method include observations, questions, hypotheses, predictions, experiments, and analyses. Based on these steps, scientists draw conclusions and evaluate whether their hypothesis is supported by the evidence. There is no need for intuition, and the process is more comprehensive than simply asking an expert to tell you the answer.
The scientific method can be used to reject old but often cherished ideas when their time has come. For example, many people have long believed that one must drink eight glasses of water a day for optimal health. However, when this folk psychology was exposed to scientific scrutiny, it was found to be untrue. Individuals who drank eight glasses of water per day were no healthier than those who drank less. Thank you, scientific method.
Despite the various methods for acquiring knowledge, one fundamental desire remains constant across individuals: We have an unquenchable thirst for new ideas and the kind of wisdom that will make our lives easier. The challenge is finding the best path forward to achieving meaningful insight into ourselves and the world we inhabit.
©2024 Kevin Bennett PhD, all rights reserved
References
Bennett, K. (2018). Teaching the Monty Hall dilemma to explore decision-making, probability, and regret in behavioral science classrooms. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 12 (2), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.20429/ijsotl.2018.120213
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