How do we know what we know?
Most of our academic knowledge we have learnt through classes and textbooks, however, the interesting part is when we delve deeper and consider how we know what is good or bad, right or wrong and why in fact those distinctions were made in the first place. As children you’re taught in black and white actions are either right or wrong, good or bad, however as you grow you start questioning these distinctions if lying is wrong then how is a white lie a kindness when being kind is good. Or if stealing is wrong then why did it seem good when robin hood stole from the rich and gave to the poor, as these distinctions between right and wrong start to blur and a grey area appears it is important to question not only our reasons behind them but the reasoning behind those who taught us these concepts.
From a scientific perspective discovering more about how we retain and gain knowledge can help us more efficiently learn concepts and theories as well as allowing us to develop more effective revision techniques causing us to perform better in academic conditions such as exams but also in our daily lives as it enables us to be more empathetic and understanding of other people and their perspectives which only benefits society and ourselves.
And are our reasons good ones?
I find this aspect the more important of the two as developing the habit of thoroughly thinking things through will be beneficial throughout our everyday lives, and the ability to question not only what we are told to believe and hold as certain but ourselves and our reasoning (or lack of) behind our actions, will result in us having a deeper understanding of both the knowledge and ourselves. Questioning what we are told will also act as a filter against those who are trying to make you believe in the concepts they are putting forward without any solid evidence behind them, which we are constantly bombarded with through the mainstream media. This will also cause us to develop the habit of efficiently analysing the ‘studies’ supporting many concepts that people believe such as vaccinations causing autism or global warming not being real because it is snowing outside, this skill will prevent people from falling for these claims as when you take a proper look at the so-called evidence backing them up you realise that they are completely insubstantial and unsupported.
Challenging our reasons for believing in concepts will serve only to benefit us as it will cause us to analyse them in detail and see if they really align with our beliefs and values and if in fact we have better reasons for believing in them instead of the common ‘I was told to’. This will either strengthen our belief in such concepts for example our faiths or moral values or force us to rethink our motives and find what really fulfills us which will result in a happier, healthier lifestyle.