Knowledge Inventory and Reflection: Bad or Good

Knowledge is defined as an “acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, as from study or investigation; general erudition; the fact or state of knowing; the perception of fact or truth; clear and certain mental apprehension” (“Knowledge”). Based on those definitions, knowledge is a misleading subject because what we think we know does not always end up being the truth. People may believe or say that they know something for different reasons. They could have been told information and believed it because the source was reliable, but the only way to truly know something is to have documentation. Reliability and the ability to believe is what makes people trust one another and what they are saying. If you tell someone that you know something off hand you most likely will not be questioned about the source. If you are telling someone important information or are presenting a topic to a group of colleagues you would be expected to have done research and have facts to back up your theories. Knowledge is what makes the world grow, and with that knowledge comes different perspectives on who people really are.

This quarter we are focusing on opening our minds and looking at the world in a different way. With the theme of “what makes humans ‘bad’” we are going to develop a new outlook on life and the way we perceive each of our actions the actions of people across the world. To be able to attempt to answer the question I would need evidence, to back up my beliefs. When I first read the question I felt like it was a trick because to me not all human are bad, we each decide if we want to do the right or wrong thing. Right and wrong is also a deceptive topic because we each can believe that we are doing the right or wrong thing based on our current knowledge. Right now my understanding of the theme is that it is based on a false theory that all humans are bad. 

Type of knowledge	Source	Method of Acquisition	Description	Date last evaluated
Academic Discipline	Teacher	Classroom	Discussing the idea of Columbus Day and how we are in a way celebrating genocide.	10-9-15
Propositional	Thoughts, Bible	Discussions	I believe that humans are bad when they intentionally hurt someone, or commit a sin.	10-10-15
Ability	Personal experience	Gut reaction	I know it is bad when I see a minor walk out of a drug store with cigarettes.	10-10-15

 

The theme of the class makes us question what we think we know because it makes up look deeper into what we as humans do and are. I believe that some humans are bad and that they are because of their actions against others. Not all bad actions have bad results and I believe that is because people learn from their errors and correct them in the future. I think that if a person commits a crime that they are doing something bad, but once someone crosses the line of killing another human being then they can never recover from that action. My knowledge on what makes humans bad is mostly based on mere true belief because it tends to generalize people and their actions into two categories when every person is different and has their own reasons for their actions. The two categories are bad or good and right or wrong, but from class discussions I learned there is not an exact answer because people have their own outlooks on what it means to be good or bad and right or wrong. It can be thought of as wrong today to assume someone is bad because they do something that you think is wrong. We cannot judge someone based on their action without evidence and significant reasons to back up our beliefs, but if our beliefs are different that theirs then we can end up back in the cycle of assumptions, generalization, and mere true beliefs. Humans can be thought of as bad if they do something the majority is against, but I still believe that there are moral and legal lines that are draw when it comes to right and wrong. We live in a society where we are told we must follow laws or we will suffer the consequences. I believe that if someone breaks a law then they have committed a bad action and must receive the correct punishment.

I use ability knowledge when I know how to follow the rules in class and in life. Ability knowledge could also be thought of as a way of learning from ones mistakes, so if someone does a bad thing they can learn from it and not commit that bad action again. Throughout my education I have been given instructions on what to do and what not to do, I have decided to follow those rules because I know that if I did not that I would be punished. At a young age our minds develop, and based on that development we can think of the world in an optimistic point of view or a pessimistic one. By looking at people from an optimistic perspective we can choose to believe that humans are good in nature, but if we look at humans from a pessimistic perspective we will doom ourselves into believe that humans are originally bad.

“Knowledge.” Def. 1 & 4. Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2015. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/knowledge>.

Popova, Maria. “Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives.” Brain Picking. N.p., 29 Jan. 2014. Web. 25 Sept. 2015. <https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/01/29/carol-dweck-mindset/>.

Pritchard, Duncan. "Some Preliminaries." What Is This Thing Called Knowledge? London: Routledge, 2006. N. pag. Print.