Ways of acquiring knowledge (knowing)

There are many ways of acquiring knowledge. Intuition, authority, experience, and reasoning are all ways to gain knowledge. We acquire knowledge from our experience. People who are experts in the subject matter also provide a great deal of information. Here we discuss different ways of acquiring knowledge.

Ways of acquiring knowledge

Intuition

The dictionary definition of intuition is instinctive knowing (without the use of rational processes) or the impression that something might be the case but you do not have a reason for that knowledge. Intuition relies on justifications like “it feels right to me”. The problem with such an approach is there is no way to separate accurate knowledge from inaccurate knowledge, as there is no way to observe or examine the accuracy of the knowledge. Intuition is the quickest way to obtain an answer to a question or problem when there is no information, or when you cannot refer to any supporting data, and the use of rational justification is not possible.

Authority

This approach relies on acquiring the knowledge from a person who is a respected source of information on that particular subject. This approach relies on the fact that we accept what is fixed or established especially by order or authority. While there is always a chance that the fact stated by the authority/expert might be inaccurate, it can generally be a good starting point as it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to obtain knowledge. But there are problems with authoritative sources of knowledge too. For example, we often hear about conflicting testimonies by an expert witness in court trials. Another issue with this approach to knowledge is the ability of an expert to present facts in an unbiased manner. And lastly, authoritative information from one field may not generalize to other fields. For example, the skills for running a successful business may not necessarily translate to the skills and expertise required for running a government agency.

Empiricism or Experience

This approach to acquiring knowledge relies on the idea that all knowledge is gained through experience which can be verified or disproved by observation, experimentation, or experience. Philosophers John Locke (1632–1704) and David Hume (1711–1776) argued that virtually all knowledge is based on experience. We gain knowledge through sensory perception. Empirical or a posteriori knowledge comes through senses. But we also know from research, that our past experiences and motivations at the time of perceiving can drastically influence our senses. There is also evidence that memory of events does not remain constant. Nonetheless, empiricism is a vital approach to gaining knowledge.

Reasoning or Rationalism or Metaphysical method

This approach to acquiring knowledge rests on the idea that reason is the primary source of knowledge. Favored by many philosophers, it assumes that the behavior of natural objects is governed by a set of laws and that people can discover these laws by their efforts. That is, truth is knowable or can be discovered independent of observations, purely through thinking, including mathematical and logical reasoning and other thinking processes. There is a priori knowledge that is supplied by our consciousness independently of all experience, achieved by pure reasoning alone. This type of reasoning begins with the search for true premises. Then, by the use of logic, deduces natural laws from these axiomatic truths. For example, physicists first extend their understanding through reasoning and logical thinking using mathematical models which have led to theoretical discoveries like the Higgs Boson particle or gravitational waves.

Scientific Method

Empiricism and rationalism are the key cornerstones of the scientific method. Scientists use reasoning (mostly deductive reasoning) to provide a theoretical and empirical rationale for the research, to develop hypotheses, and to determine the validity of the results. And they make empirical observations under controlled conditions and provide systematic documentation to reduce biases. This provides objectivity to validate or refute the hypotheses. Thus the modern science stands tall on the two main pillars: rationalism and empiricism For more information on the scientific method please refer here.