Chapter 6.1 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: “Knowledge and Wisdom: From a Western Perspective”: 1. What Is Critical Thinking? Definition: Critical thinking is the continuous, reasoned search for valid and reliable knowledge to guide beliefs, decisions, and actions. It involves evaluating arguments, assumptions, and evidence to form beliefs that are true, useful, or rational. According to Bryan Magee, early Western philosophers marked a major shift by seeking understanding through reason alone, rather than relying on religion, tradition, or authority. Key Idea: Western thought emphasizes human reason as the primary tool for discovering truth. 2. Sources of Reliable Knowledge (in Western thought): - Intuition – Inner sense or immediate insight - External Authority – Teachers, books, institutions - Reason – Logical thinking, analysis - Empiricism – Knowledge through observation and experience Goal: To produce Reliable Knowledge—defined as justified true belief, not just any belief. 3. Science as the Highest Standard of Knowledge Science is viewed as the only method that produces reliable, objective knowledge about nature. The scientific method follows a rigorous process: - Observation - Hypothesis - Prediction - Experiment - Analysis - Repetition Key Idea: Science is built on empirical evidence and repeatable testing to filter out error, bias, and unfounded belief. 4. Limits of Objectivity Stephen Jay Gould noted that even scientific facts are not purely objective—our culture, habits, and biases influence what we observe and how we interpret it. Conclusion: While the scientific method is highly valued in Western thought, it is not immune to human subjectivity. Overall Summary: In the Western perspective, knowledge and wisdom are pursued through critical thinking and the scientific method, emphasizing reason, evidence, and skepticism over tradition or faith. While science considers itself the most reliable path to truth, even it is shaped by human context—suggesting that no method is entirely free from bias.
Chapter 6.2 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: “Critical Thinking and the Definition of Knowledge-Wisdom” 1. Understanding “Knowledge” Through History Early roots (12th–14th century): Knowledge originally meant acknowledgment, honor, or worship of a superior. Later evolved to mean the capacity to understand or be familiar with facts—a shift from relational to informational. Today, knowledge is defined as: “Acquaintance with facts, truths, or principles, often gained through study or research.” Key Idea: Over time, “knowledge” became less about relational awareness or reverence and more about factual understanding. 2. The Difference Between “Knowing” and “Believing” Know (v.) – From Old English cnawan, meaning: To perceive something as true or to distinguish truth from error. Knowing implies certainty based on evidence or recognition. Believe (v.) – From belyfan (Old English), meaning: To have confidence or faith, often without full proof. Belief involves trust or acceptance—often based on authority, tradition, or testimony. Key Idea: In Western thought, knowledge is tied to verifiable facts, while belief often implies trust without full demonstration. 3. Science and Knowledge The word science comes from the Latin scientia, meaning “knowledge.” By the 14th century, science in English referred to: Book learning, study, and certainty—especially knowledge obtained through disciplined methods. Modern usage emphasizes science as a systematic pursuit of knowledge based on evidence and repeatability. Key Idea: Science became the method most closely tied to the pursuit of justified, reliable knowledge in the Western tradition. Overall Summary In the Western tradition: Knowledge is seen as fact-based understanding, gained through study, reason, and observation. It is often contrasted with belief, which implies trust or acceptance without full proof. Critical thinking seeks to separate knowledge from assumption by evaluating reasons and evidence. For some science is regarded as the most reliable method of producing verifiable, systematic knowledge. Conclusion: Western definitions of knowledge emphasize rationality, evidence, and objectivity, often minimizing belief and faith unless they can be justified by reason.
Chapter 6.3 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: “Critical Thinking: The Half-Life of Knowledge”: 1. What Is the Half-Life of Knowledge? Coined by economist Fritz Machlup in 1963, the "half-life of knowledge" refers to how long it takes for half of accepted facts to become outdated due to new discoveries. Like radioactive decay, knowledge deteriorates over time as research advances. Key Idea: What we “know” today may be obsolete tomorrow. 2. How Fast Is Knowledge Becoming Obsolete? Engineering: Half-life of knowledge dropped from 5 years (1991) to 2.5 years a decade later. Medicine: As of 2017, medical knowledge’s half-life was 18–24 months, and projected to shrink to 73 days within a few years. Implication: In fast-moving fields, knowledge expires rapidly, challenging its long-term reliability. 3. Medicine, Science, and Life Expectancy Despite constant breakthroughs, male life expectancy has barely increased in many countries: USA: Dropped from 78.5 (2010) to 77.43 (2022), now ranked #48 globally. Canada and the UK saw slight gains. Since 1990, the world's longest-living populations added only about 6.5 years of life expectancy. Some experts now say the focus should shift from lifespan to healthspan—the number of years lived in good health. Question Raised: If medical knowledge is growing so fast, why isn’t life improving at the same rate? 4. Is Scientific Knowledge Permanent or Perishable? Naomi Oreskes, in Why Trust Science? (2019), says scientific truths are not permanent—they change with time and new evidence. Even though science aims for reliable knowledge, that knowledge is often temporary and revisable. Key Idea: Science produces the best current understanding, but not eternal truth. Final Thought While science and critical thinking remain powerful tools for acquiring reliable knowledge, this knowledge is often temporary. As facts change and understanding evolves, even science cannot promise unchanging truth—highlighting the limits of human reason and empirical knowledge.
Chapter 6.4 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: “Critical Thinking and Knowledge” based on Bloom’s Taxonomy and the critique of it: 1. Bloom’s Taxonomy – A Traditional Model of Thinking Skills Bloom’s Taxonomy is a widely used educational framework aimed at helping students progress from basic knowledge to advanced thinking. It’s structured as a hierarchy: Knowing – Memorizing and recalling facts Understanding – Explaining, comparing, and predicting based on knowledge. - Applying – Using knowledge in practical situations - Analyzing – Breaking down complex information and seeing relationships - Evaluating – Making judgments, solving problems creatively, seeing multiple perspectives - Creating – Producing original ideas, synthesizing knowledge across contexts Goal: Guide learners from surface-level recall to deep, creative, independent thinking. 2. Critique of the Taxonomy Learning is not linear: The model implies a step-by-step climb, but real learning is messy, non-linear, and dynamic. Skills are interconnected: You can’t truly analyze without understanding, or create without knowing—these cognitive processes are often simultaneous and integrated. Life-based learning is holistic: Real, meaningful learning connects knowledge to life experience, purpose, and creation—not just abstract information. “Disconnected knowledge from life is more like just information—something we can live without.” Key Insight While Bloom’s Taxonomy provides a useful structure for teaching and assessment, it may oversimplify how human learning and wisdom actually unfold. Learning is interactive, relational, and creative, not just about climbing a pyramid of facts and skills.
Chapter 6.5 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: “A Non-Western View of Knowledge” with connections to critical thinking and epistemology: 1. Western View of Knowledge Rooted in rationalism and empiricism. Early Western philosophers broke away from religion, revelation, and tradition, favoring reason as the primary path to truth. Emphasizes objectivity, logic, and scientific method as the most reliable ways of knowing. Knowledge is often treated as abstract, objective, and separate from lived experience. 2. Non-Western / Indigenous Views of Knowledge Knowledge is relational, dynamic, and experienced through the senses and environment. Knowing often involves walking the land, observing patterns in nature, and being immersed in community and tradition. In many Indigenous languages, there’s no direct word for “knowledge” as used in Western contexts. Instead: “Ways of living” or “coming to knowing.” Knowledge is not just facts, but a way of being, learned through experience, connection, and story. 3. Knowledge as a Living Process Indigenous knowledge isn’t possessed, measured, or confined to institutions. It’s absorbed through engagement with the world, passed on through oral traditions, ceremonies, and relationships. Philosopher Vine Deloria observed that many truths are excluded from science because they challenge dominant paradigms. True knowledge involves spiritual, communal, and intuitive dimensions often overlooked by Western systems. 4. Where Does Ethno-Epistemology Fit in Critical Thinking? Ethno-epistemology examines how cultures define and validate knowledge. Within the critical thinking framework, it can inform or expand the traditional sources of reliable knowledge: - Traditional Source Ethno-Epistemology’s Contribution - Intuition Honored as spiritual insight or ancestral wisdom - External Authority Includes elders, tradition, sacred texts/stories - Reason Seen through communal logic and lived reasoning - Empiricism Includes observation, but through embodied, multi-sensory experience Ethno-epistemology bridges worldviews, helping us see that what counts as “truth” or “knowledge” is shaped by culture. Key Insight Western models tend to prioritize abstract, measurable knowledge, while non-Western views emphasize embodied, relational knowing. True wisdom may emerge when these perspectives are held in dialogue—acknowledging both rational logic and lived, spiritual experience.
Chapter 6.6 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: Non-Western Biblical (Hebraic) View of Knowledge: 1. Knowledge as Relational and Experiential (Yada) The Hebrew word “yada” means to know by experience—not just intellectual understanding, but deep, personal connection. It is used even in the context of intimacy between a husband and wife, showing the depth of relational knowing. Therefore, knowledge in a biblical sense is not abstract—it involves commitment, care, and lived relationship. To know God is not to study Him from afar but to walk with Him, respond to His actions, and trust Him intimately. 2. Knowing God Is Existential and Personal Knowledge of God is rooted in relationship, not just theology or doctrine. It’s about responding to God’s self-revelation through His mighty deeds, faithfulness, and presence. This is echoed in verses like: - Jeremiah 1:5 – God knew Jeremiah before he was born, revealing a personal, purposeful relationship. - Psalm 144:3 – A humble reflection on God’s mindful care for humanity. - Matthew 7:9-11 – Illustrates God’s Fatherly nature, giving good gifts to His children based on love and relationship, not by merit or reason. 3. Hebraic Epistemology: Knowing = Living Knowing is existential—it shapes identity, behavior, worship, and purpose. It flows from experience, obedience, memory, and story—not detached observation. The goal is not to master facts, but to be transformed by relationship with the living God. Key Insight In contrast to the Western emphasis on rational abstraction, the Biblical/Hebraic view of knowledge is relational, embodied, and deeply personal. It calls for living in covenant with God, not merely thinking about Him. Biblical knowledge is not about knowing that God exists, but knowing God Himself.
Chapter 6.7 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: Non-Western Biblical (Hebraic) View of Knowledge as Covenantal: 2. Hebraic/Biblical Ethno-Epistemology as Covenantal Core Idea: In the Hebraic worldview, knowledge is not just for understanding, but for responsible living. Knowing is inseparable from doing—it is covenantal, meaning it comes with relational obligations between man and God. Key Concepts: Covenant Epistemology means: Knowledge exists for the sake of obedience and ethical action. There is no separation between what one knows and how one lives. Failure to act on what one knows results in hypocrisy, guilt, and spiritual disintegration. Scriptural Foundations: - Exodus 19:4–6 – God offers covenant relationship: if Israel obeys, they become His treasured possession and a kingdom of priests. - Deuteronomy 28:15 – Disobedience brings consequences; knowing God's law without doing it leads to judgment. - Hosea 6:6–7 – God desires mercy and relational knowledge, not empty ritual; Israel, like Adam, broke the covenant. - Matthew 7:21–23 – Jesus warns that even those who do mighty acts in His name will be rejected if they fail to do the will of the Father—obedience is essential to truly knowing God. Key Insight: In this covenantal epistemology, knowledge is relational, moral, and actionable. To know God is to walk in His ways. Belief that does not lead to obedience is considered false knowledge. “Knowledge without obedience is not knowledge at all in the biblical sense—it is deception.”
Chapter 6.8 : Knowledge & Wisdom: This session covers the following content: "God vs. the World as the Source of Knowledge and Wisdom" from a Biblical perspective: - God as the Source of Knowledge and Wisdom: True knowledge and wisdom come from God. It is not self-generated, but granted by Him to those who seek and fear Him. Key Points: - Daniel 1:17, 19–20 – God gave Daniel and his friends exceptional knowledge and wisdom—greater than all others in the Babylonian empire. - Proverbs 1:7 – Reverence for God ("fear of Yahweh") is the foundation of all true knowledge; the foolish reject this. - James 1:5 – Anyone lacking wisdom should ask God, who gives generously and without judgment. Wisdom from God is relational, gifted, and tied to humility and dependence on Him. - The World as a Source of Wisdom and Knowledge: The wisdom of the world is contrasted with God's wisdom. While it may seem impressive, Scripture views it as ultimately foolish, deceptive, and even harmful when disconnected from God. Key Points: - 1 Corinthians 1:20–24 – The world’s wisdom fails to recognize God and cannot lead to salvation. God's wisdom appears foolish to the world, but Christ is the true wisdom and power of God. - James 3:13–15 – Earthly wisdom marked by envy, selfishness, and pride is not from God—it is demonic in nature. - Proverbs 3:5–7 – We are commanded to trust in God over our own understanding, reject self-reliance, and humbly follow His direction. Worldly wisdom is rooted in pride, while God's wisdom begins with humility and faith.