Is+Knowledge+Power?

=__What is Knowledge?__=

__**Where does it reside and how do we construct it?**__
====The dictionary states that Knowledge is the fact or condition of knowing something with familarity gained through experience and association. [|(Merriam-Webster)]However, we believe that knowledge resides within you in the ability to figure things out. Knowledge is the retainment of information and skills residing in the human and animal minds. These skills can be demonstrated through various activities, however as to what activites come from knowledge or an instinct, is up to numerous opinions. Instinct can be classified as a form of knowledge because it is a skillset retained that may be a requirement to live. One could argue that this is power since it grants any species an original skillset different from others. As an example, a Black bear hybernates because it cannot live in the winter due to lack of food, so they have to hybernate to live. This instinct is a form of power because it kept the Black Bear alive through the winter. As suggested by the MIS textbook, Knowledge is gathererd from information which is consructed from data.====

__**Is knowledge tangible?**__
====The definition of tangible is "[something] capable of being touched; discernible by the touch; material or substantial." [|(Dictionary.com)] We feel that knowledge resides in the mind. The mind is an intengible part of the brain, something that we can not understand beyond that it is there. The brain however is tangible. Knowledge also resides in information systems, to a point. While the information technologies that the systems are on are physically tangible, the systems themselves are intangible structures. The argument of whether knowledge is tangible is subject to great discussion, however most would argue that it is not. Even though knowledge can be gained from making contact with tangible items, the knowledge that is gained is stored in the mind and systems, making it impossible to====

__**Is** knowledge a process?__
Wikipedia says that a process is the act of taking something through a series of routine procedures (or steps) to take something from one form to another. [|(Wikipedia)] Knowledge is a process because it is "derived from data; data is defined as recorded facts or figures." (Experiencing MIS pg 29) Often with knowledge we go through steps, and often our understanding of something has changed after examining it closely. This is a process of understanding, a process of developing knowledge. If knowledge truely is a process, than we could break down our attainment of knowledge through these generall steps highlighted by the MIS textbook. "DATA ® INFORMATION ® KNOWLEDGE ® ‘WISDOM’" [|(Anthony Blake, Darrell Mann)] =__**Does the word "knowledge" really have multiple meanings or are we misusing the word?**__= Knowledge defined today could have hundreds of different meanings. However there are a few choice definitions that site whether we are misusing the word or not. When speaking of knowledge, ﻿one must consider the fact that every human being has knowledge of some degree and that each individual has more knowledge in some areas of life than others. For example, one person may know how to paint a house in such a way that will make the coat last more than 20 years, while another individual may paint it in such a way that will only last 10 years. This would conclude that the first person has knowledge of making a paint coat on a house last longer than an individual without similar knowledge. Many people have attempted to understand knowledge and have attempted to define, at least, certain aspects of knowledge. These attempts have resulted in general understandings such as Tacit Knowledge and Explicit Knowledge. In regards to the aspect of tacit knowledge, it is described as the Know How, which involves learning skills that are gained through experience, however it can not be written down or clearly defined. [|(Wikipedia)] Feelings are an example of tacit knowledge, for example it is nearly impossible to explain to someone what "hard" is or what "cold" feels like. People attempt to define these things (using a temperature scale), but they do not suffice because the feelings are all a matter of perspective.

Where tacit knowledge is difficult to define, explicit knowledge is the complete opposite; it is knowledge that you can explain. It is knowing what something means when it is written down, it is knowing that 1+1=2 and that a map of an area will tell you where you are and where you can go.

"[Morosini] says that all knowledge MUST be tacit by it's very nature – once outside a person’s mind any knowledge becomes information to another person, it is only in the mind that it can be called knowledge. This is an echo of Polanyi's views. If we accept the premise that all knowledge is held in people’s minds only, then much of the arguments we have had relating to explicit knowledge management falls away – after all they were information management only. It therefore becomes far harder to surface or to make explicit and therefore we record tacit knowledge. According to Pan and Scarbrough 'Tacit knowledge is not available as a text; It involves intangible factors embedded in personal beliefs, experiences, and values.' " [|(The OR Society)] So we ask ourselves, can we truely define knowledge? We believe that you can attempt to define knowledge, but knowledge is all a matter of perspective. For every piece of information that we can clearly define and explain, there are hundreds of others that we cannot. As a result, we can conclude that there is no true defenition of knowledge.

Corey Chester Natasha Veenhof Courtney Louie Connor Hayward Andrew Brix
 * Picture: []**
 * Picture: []**