Exploring Different Types of Human Knowledge
9th January 2023
In this article, we will look at some categories also known as knowledge types. But what is knowledge really? Does knowledge has anything to do with formal education? Is knowledge always practical? What do we consider as knowledge and what do we consider as not? These and many other questions will be answered as you read through the article below. Let’s get started as usual.
What Is Human Knowledge?
There are many definitions of this word in the English language both online and offline. However, I always feel good when I define words myself, in my own way, with my understanding. This means when we define words our way, we have comprehended and understood the meaning in our own way.
Okay, that’s enough for now. That lecture is enough. Knowledge to me means knowing how to do something practically. However, there are many different kinds of knowing something. We may know how to write even if we don’t actively write every day, week, month, or year. Does that mean we don’t know how to write if we don’t write anything for a long time?
Related: Self-Help Category
Below we will look at the two main types of knowledge: discovery and revelation. Then we will look at the other three levels of knowledge: head, heart, and hand. Information gives us head knowledge. That’s one of the knowledge levels, not knowledge types as such. In the same way, heart knowledge refers to when we have believed that what we were told is true. And again, hand knowledge means practical knowledge, not a type of knowledge as such but merely a level.
Discovery Knowledge
This is my #1 in the list of knowledge types because most people end their research here. Most of us only know this as the only type of knowledge available to us human beings, but is this true? I think knowledge is more than discovery. This is because whatever is discovered was even there before we even know it existed.
Take for example, did the white man discovered Lake Victoria and named it? Yes, for the white people, that was very true. However, for the Africans who were living around the lake for centuries, they knew it was ever there. Thus, the Africans there already knew the lake existed and they didn’t need anyone to tell them it was there and how it should be called, did they? This means discovery is not the only type of knowledge available. There are many other knowledge types and we are just looking at one type right here, right now.
Discovery knowledge helps us in modern natural scientific research and methodologies. It helps us experiment with many different kinds of things that we are investigating. However, as we are soon going to see below, there’s no research if there’s no thought about that which to do research about.
For example, if humans didn’t think that the cause of disease must be something beyond the bad air, could they do research on Malaria parasites? They couldn’t do any research. Thus, before the discovered the actual cause of sickness, they thought about it, and that was not discovery knowledge. It was revelation knowledge.
Something or some force made that person think beyond our human limitations. In the same way, Thomas A. Edison didn’t know how a light bulb would look like because he never seen one in the real world. However, his mind, with the help of the intelligent mind unseen to us, was able to imagine it into a reality. That’s revelation.
Ah, we are already there?
Anyway, let’s agree that discovery is important. However, it’s never complete by itself because it only becomes real after we have finally discovered what we were hoping and expecting to discover. Before we discovered it, we somehow knew it was there.
Next, let’s expand the topic – revelation knowledge.
Revelation Knowledge
As we have already explained above, revelation knowledge is hidden to many of us. However, it’s the fuel behind our human imaginations and creativity from generation to the other. Whether we believe in the existence of the spiritual and supernatural world or not, the fact is that we can’t help but to believe we do imagine things.
Imagination is real and so does the spiritual and supernatural world. We can’t see our minds yet they do exist. A mind is surely intangible and therefore, supernatural and spiritual entity. We can’t see or touch it. We can’t measure it or explain it and how it works, can we?
In fact, the antenna, the brain that works hand in hand with our mind, is one of the most complicated organs known to humans. However, our brains are only the physical antennas, the hardware wiring that aids the spiritual supernatural entity and make it function as it does in this physical world. This has nothing to do with religion as such but with reality around us. This also means that we can choose to make us of our minds intentionally. We don’t need to be religious in order to do this, do we?
Again, revelation comes in a “hunch” as people who have encountered the supernatural might explain it to us. By the way, any human being, religious or secular, does experience some kind of revelation in his or her life time. This again proves we don’t have to be religious first before we experience revelation knowledge.
Head Knowledge
The head knowledge as referred to before means knowledge still in the head. This is the informational knowledge. It’s awareness. We just know about something theoretically. It’s another word for theoretical knowledge, not practical knowledge. It’s not even heart knowledge because it’s very possible to be informed of the things we don’t believe are real.
For example, you know about angels and demons. However, can you explain how the looks like without referring to a book or film about them? If you never seen an angel or a demon, then you don’t have an experiential knowledge or them, do you? How about the idea of heaven and that of hell? You get it now.
As I write, I hope to inform (head knowledge), instruct (heart knowledge), and finally educate (hands knowledge) because I believe information is vital. Information is very crucial and important. We need to be informed about heaven and hell though you don’t really know where they are located, how far they are from here, and how to get there.
I know.
Each and every human religion claims to show us the way to heaven, and that’s perfectly fine as this describes our human need and longing for a better world. Religion has been, is, and will likely be the only source of comfort in a very uncertain world full of trouble and pain of all kind. However, this is head knowledge thought when believed it can soon become heart knowledge.
Heart Knowledge
As explained above, heart knowledge is one of the knowledge levels, but not a knowledge type. It simply refers to the beliefs we hold so dear for our lives whether true in the real sense of the term or false. Because I am a Christian, I believe in the afterlife. I have to admit that even my ancestors believed in the same idea.
Africans knew long time ago before Christianity and Islam came that people don’t die. There are songs composed to illustrate how the real person leaves the earthly clay body for a better place. Our people believed that people don’t die but they only leave this world for the other. Where the other world is located is what they didn’t want to lie about because no one ever went there and come back to earth to inform them.
If you strongly believe your device has both hardware and software, you are right there – heart knowledge. Whatever you believe is true is part of this level of knowledge. It can also be referred to as revelation knowledge because you still don’t have a physical representation of your beliefs.
I do have my personal beliefs apart from those beliefs common in my family, clan, tribe, society, country, and continent. Yes, Africans do have their unique and strange beliefs and so do the Americans and Asians. We all have beliefs about everything, good an evil. It doesn’t matter where you are; people around you have their beliefs.
Hand Knowledge
Okay, here is practical knowledge on the scenes. It simply means acted information. This awareness is not only available in the head and in the heart; it’s practical in the physical world. You act on your knowledge as appropriate. This means if you know how to write, you don’t just think about it; rather, you do it, practically.
Do you practically know how to fly an aircraft? This is because you first get trained using those tools before you try to fly with an instructor beside you. Do you know how to drive a car? If yes, then you are now talking. You know how to do it, practically, not just theoretically as discussed earlier.
Do you know how to build a hut? I do! It’s a good thing to do. Do you know how to canoe a canoe? Anyway, I don’t know if there’s anything like that in English, but I hope you got the question. Whatever you do with your hands is referred to as experiential knowledge or hands knowledge.
But there are many things you may do without using your hands. Can you think of some of these things now? What are they really? Well, people play football or soccer with their legs, not with their hands. Again, when we say practical knowledge it means anything you can do no matter how you do it.
Do you know how to smile? Do you know how to laugh out loud? Do that now! Oh, no. I’m really kidding! You don’t tell someone hungry to smile or laugh, do you? It won’t be a real smile, but if they can try, why not! However, the point is that whatever you are able to do is referred to as practical or hands knowledge, even if you don’t do it with your hands as such.
Ah, and most of our human activities are carried out using our hands, right? That means the phrase still does a lot of sense, doesn’t it? We even point at other people with our hands. Ah, our fingers are part of our hands, aren’t they? They are. So we do a lot with our hands. Yet, there are something other things we do with other parts of our bodies such as our mouths, ears, eyes, skins, and much more.
Importance of Human Knowledge
Our human knowledge, whatever type it might be, whatever level it might be, is very important simply because we are human. Animals have their animal-ish knowledge, and we have our human-ish knowledge. This can be revelation knowledge, discovery knowledge, or both. All creatures have their own unique natures and thus, their unique kinds of knowledge based on how they acquired it.
I believe flies know what I don’t know and I won’t be able to know even if I have to live for more than a thousand years on earth. I might be right as I am convinced I am though I don’t have what you call evidence or data to support my stand. I believe plants hear each other out and they communicate with each other. Would that be audible voice? I don’t know.
However, communication doesn’t have to be with voice or audio. It happens in many different ways. As an intuitive empath, I know that I understand animals and insects more than most people around me may dismiss it as illusion and madness. I know what I am talking about here. I know that most people don’t and won’t have this kind of experience.
However, if you choose to simply sit back and observe how I interact with animals and insects, in your presence you will have to conclude your findings afterward. This is how human knowledge is so important, yet, we still have different kinds of experiences.
Human knowledge simply means scientific or practical knowledge. Science or natural science is a great tool that has opened our eyes to many things including our own bodies. We have opened up our bellies and chests to study those organs for a better reason. That’s knowledge applied.
Because of scientific knowledge, we humans conquered the air, the sea, and the earth. We fly more than any other known earthly creatures. We have created talking machines. We have invented tools that are helping us travel much more easily that we used to do a hundred years ago. Even writing and book publishing is much easier now that it was fifty years ago.
Your Personal Development
Now, your personal development comes in handy here. But what does it mean to be personally developed? It means you have to discover who you are. Your identity is important. It is important because that’s the beginning of your life purpose. I believe you don’t become simply because you already are. Wishing to become something else is called wishful thinking. Nothing is good about trying to be somebody when you are already somebody.
Then after you have discovered who you are, you can then improve your true personality. Personal development is just one side of the same coin. The other side is called professional development and this is because people are prone to describe you on what you do in life. They ask, “What do you do for a living?” and that makes sense.
Well, in South Sudan at the time of this writing, you can still live and have all you need without work. However, this won’t last too long. That culture is soon fading away like grass. I don’t mean to say educated people don’t love and care for each other. What I mean is that we become aware of things we can do for ourselves when we are educated more than we do when not.
Now, personal development is made up of both self-discovery and self-improvement, and there are two books on the same topics here. Self-discovery is what happens once and for all, while self-improvement is a life-long journey of positive change and transformation. Do you now see the difference between the two?
Your Professional Development
Professional development is the final half or side of the coin as stated above. This refers to career-discovery and career-improvement. Just as self-discovery and self-improvement, these two elements are very vital for your professional life. This means you first need to discover what you are good at in line of your true personality type.
This is what makes a career very different from a job. Because I am naturally an intuitive empathetic introvert, I find it hard to be in a crowd of people, especially when it’s a funeral rite. This is because I seem to make sense of every facial expression and that becomes overwhelming in no time, do you agree with me?
Because of my personality type, I love working alone, in solitary places. I never feel bored when alone. I don’t know what it means to get bored when I am with my writing tools unless my stomach is empty. I only get bored when I am sick physically. This means you can find that thing you can do with ease based on your personality type.
Knowing these knowledge types will help you discover and improve both yourself and your career. This is why personal and professional development elements come in handy in this section of the article. Oh yes, you do have a purpose for living. I believe I have a purpose and that I am doing exactly what I should do right now.
If you haven’t done it yet, take a minute and get yourself these materials, now. The link is here to get the books. You can even download these books one by one if you follow the links here: Your Self-Discovery Guide, Your Self-Improvement Guide, Your Career-Improvement Guide and finally, Your Career-Improvement Guide.
Summary
In short, knowledge is power, isn’t it? Well, Napoleon Hill thinks knowledge is only a potential power, but I think he was referring to the impractical kind of knowledge, possibly head knowledge described in this article. But heart knowledge easily become hands knowledge, which is power, not just a potential power because it is power, already.
After reading this article, you have come up with some conclusions, what are they? Did you learn something new? What was it that you have learned? What is it that you already knew before reading the article?
Again, thanks for reading! I really need to hear from you and you can share your thoughts in the comments section below. I believe other readers will appreciate your feedback as well. Have a good time of learning.
Further Readings
- What Are The Different Types of Knowledge? – Science ABC.
- 4 Types of Knowledge – Learning Strategist
- 7 Types of Knowledge in 2023 – Whatfix
