What is knowledge?

What does it mean to know something?   Where does knowledge come from and how is it transmitted?  Are there different types of knowledge? So much depends on how we conceive of the concept of knowledge, yet it defies any simple definition.  Instead, its study has spawned the whole philosophical field of epistemology, where numerous bad philosophies have not only clouded our conception of knowledge but impeded the actual growth of knowledge itself.

Clearly, knowledge involves information.  Information can be substantiated in the real world, but it can also exist in abstract forms.  For example, knowledge physically instantiated in words written on a page represents abstract information that can be transmitted into the brain of a reader through light reflected off the ink patterns of that page.  Chiara Marletto, in her recent book; The Science of Can and Can't defined  knowledge "objectively via counterfactuals - as information that is capable of perpetuating its own existence"  However, knowledge can also be viewed more simply as the kind of information that can enable physical transformations or solve problems from a human perspective.

For the purpose of understanding reality better and making progress by growing our knowledge, it is important to understand where knowledge comes from.  David Deutsch has stated that conjecture is the origin of all knowledge.  What he essentially means is that knowledge arises out of proposing good explanations that give us a better understanding of our reality.    

This kind of knowledge, generated creatively within the human mind is labelled as explanatory knowledge.  It arises out of the process of creative conjecture, criticism, and refinement among humans.

A different kind of knowledge that arose out of the process of evolution also exists and is labelled as evolutionary knowledge.   The knowledge created by evolution is encoded within the DNA and physical structures of the myriad lifeforms that exist on the planet, including us.  With this form of knowledge, the process of conjecture is simulated by random genetic mutations to DNA that are weeded out or selected for by the evolutionary process.  

While evolutionary knowledge is stunning in its results, it is slow, and proceeds randomly, whereas explanatory knowledge is now expanding rapidly and with (moral) purpose.

These kinds of knowledge are differentiated by the process by which they are created, but knowledge itself can be broken down further in terms of how we as humans comprehend it.  

1. Explicit  - Knowledge we can understand rationally / logically and make judgments about.

2. Inexplicit - Knowledge that informs our action but that we don't use language or explicit words to process, such as our ability to instantly assess the body language and intent of another person when they raise their hand for example.

3. Unconscious  - Deeper knowledge also acts upon us as something that we can't fully comprehend but that we can feel (like a sense of dread)

By understanding that we possess knowledge of which we are not fully aware,  and that it interacts deeply with our explicit knowledge of reality, we can be better equipped to choose which problems we are individually suited and motivated to work on.

The rapid growth of explanatory knowledge is what is driving the remarkable progress of our civilization and is what EXKN stands for.