Understanding Human Knowledge: Levels and Types
The Levels of Human Knowledge
From birth, human beings constantly receive information progressively and acquire knowledge about the world and themselves. The whole body of knowledge that a human being acquires throughout their life and that serves for their existence is what we call knowledge. Therefore, in a very general and broad sense, knowledge is to know, to have understanding.
There is knowledge that we acquire without actively seeking it. Other knowledge requires deliberate searching. Sometimes, the complexity of knowledge necessitates slow and extensive preparation to acquire it. This indicates that the scope of knowledge is given by different levels of knowledge.
Levels of Knowledge
Several factors influence the levels of knowledge:
- Age and Experience: What an adult knows differs significantly from what a child knows. Similarly, a scientist’s knowledge differs vastly from someone without formal education.
- Method of Acquisition: People acquire knowledge in various ways – through personal experience, from others’ accounts, or through formal study. Knowing something from personal experience is different from knowing it because we have been told or have read about it.
- Complexity of Situations: We often encounter complex situations where we do not know what to do or how to fix things. Not everyone solves problems the same way.
We need to know what to expect, to understand how to interact with the world. That is, we need to know how to manage ourselves and how to act to achieve our goals. We need to know how to use our knowledge and what knowledge we need.
Three Types of Knowledge
There are three primary levels of knowledge, corresponding to three types of understanding:
- A) Discernment: This type of knowledge allows us to distinguish one thing from the appearance of that thing. Often, things appear one way but are another. To distinguish appearance from reality, to know, primarily means to distinguish what is from what is not. Knowledge, at this level, is discernment.
- B) Definition: Knowledge must necessarily be more than just discerning, more than distinguishing appearance from reality. We need not only to know things but also what things are. This second type of knowledge, which goes beyond simple distinction or discernment, is what we call defining. By defining, we delimit each thing in its reality, distinguish it from others, and know what things are in themselves.
- C) Demonstration: It is not enough to simply discern or know the limits of a thing (its definition). We also need confidence that what we know is as we know it and not otherwise. We need to know *why* things are the way they are. This is the stage of understanding the *why* of things – i.e., why this thing is so and not otherwise, and why it is such a thing and not another. At this third stage, we achieve not just knowledge but understanding; not only to discern or define but to demonstrate. Our knowledge becomes scientific knowledge: we know what things are and can give a reason why they are that way and not another.
This second type of knowledge and knowing, that goes beyond simple to distinguish or discern, we call defined. By defining, we delimit each thing in its reality, distinguish it from others, and know what things are in themselves. Simply, it is not enough to discern or to know the limits of a thing, its definition. We also need to have confidence that what we know is as we know it and not otherwise, and need, at the same time, to know what that thing is safely. This moment is to know the why of things, i.e., why this thing is so and not otherwise, and why it is such a thing and not another. In this third stage, we manage not just knowledge but understanding, not only to discern or define but to demonstrate. Our knowledge becomes scientific knowledge: we know what things are and can give a reason why they are that way and not another.