In all honesty I have no idea how I know what I know. Maybe it was through observation or experience but that doesn't fully support any knowledge I have. It's frustrating because I can't really explain it, it is frustrating because it doesn't matter if I trace a thing I learned to the beginning, it always end up in the same two ends: I saw someone do it or I experienced it myself.
I know how to play the piano, I remember learning how to play the piano. I was much younger than I am right now and I had a small keyboard set up to a piano. My teacher would sit next to me and hold up a note card with a music note. Then she would play it, say the name, and play it again. I had to repeat this until I learned or memorized that music note. Then she would move on to the next. After a while she would quiz me call out a name and I had to play it back to her or she would play something and expect me to tell her the name. It would be a similar process with some pieces she required me to play. This makes me realize that everything I have 'learned' are things other people told me about. In school I learn what the teacher teaches, how did they learn it? Someone had to tell them and so on.
I know what I know because other people told me a majority of it. The other part I know because I experienced it. I know not to put my hand near a stove because it will hurt. I know not to do a lot of things because they are painful but I also know to do a lot of other things because they are good or pleasant. I don't think there is a way where people can say, "I really know this because...." This topic is frustrating because what I know might be something else someone else does not know and then there are the things that a few people might know but they know them to be different. How can we be sure that what we know is 'correct'? Does it depend on the morals of that person? I know what I know due to experiences and observations, while everything I know might not be right it is what I have grown to know, and my knowledge is my reality-everyone has their own reality.
I totally agree with you about how you learned through experience.Your example and mine are similar because we both talk about something we've doing for some time already, but they are also somewhat different. You learned music, and I learned how to cook. There's almost a set a method to learning how to play the piano while there is almost no wrong way to learn how to cook. I see your point about this being a frustrating topic. Almost everything we know has been told to us or we've experienced it, and this goes back to your question- How does the person who taught me know what he or she knows?
ReplyDeleteI agree. It is frustrating because then were an argument to start how exactly would you settle it? I mean you have to prove the other person wrong and one right but even then how do you know? What are the arguments? And the defense usually begins with "Oh my parents..." or "Oh my teacher said..." and how can one argue with morals or beliefs they were brought up with? And you can't really wait until one experience's it because then no one will admit fault. It is frustrating but ultimately I think you're right. It comes down to perception and experience.
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