Free Evidencing Essay Sample

Value of Knowledge

Introduction
How does anyone know what they claim to know? This philosophical question has been at the center of the theory of knowledge. As such, many scholars have focused on it, in one way or another, in their quest to advance the theory of knowledge. However, of importance in this essay is the evaluation of the concept value of knowledge. Also, the essay takes a keen interest in examining the effect on knowledge value when the knowledge is not applied. It has been argued that “Without application in the world, the value of knowledge is greatly diminished”. The argument dates backs to ancient times with Plato being where Juvenal (55-130) where he claimed that all people wished to know however none was willing to pay the price. Considering the later argument that was advanced by Coleridge (1825) who stated that the value of knowledge is proportional to the value of its subjects, it can be argued that the price which Juvenal referred was the extra initiative to apply the knowledge into the real world for it to become valuable. Further, in Plato Meno, Plato wonders what makes information more valuable than a mere true belief. The answer to this question lies in the application aspect. Can a belief be applied in real life? Certainly it is known that knowledge can be applied and meaningful results realized (Swart, 2011). However, this is not true for a belief. As such, in order to further in Plato quest to understand the value of knowledge and evaluate whether its value diminished when it is not applied in real world, the essay is guided by the research statement the value of knowledge is greatly diminished without application in the world.

Analysis

What does the concept of value? According to oxford dictionary, value concept is defined as the regard that something is held to deserve. Examining the concept of value in another aspect, value concept can be defined as the usefulness of something (Lesser & Prusak, 2004). As such, from the two definitions, this makes it clear that the concept of value is highly subjective. However, for this case, the paper shall view value as the usefulness of something.
What is knowledge? There are several definitions that have been advanced. Generally, knowledge is a form of human faculty that results from interpretation of information. Therefore, this can be extended to mean that knowledge is an understanding that emerges from data combination and experiences (Kvanvig, 2003). According to Andre Boudreau, knowledge is defined as the force that holds together thing that are known to be true in a defined context that drives people to act where there are no impediments (Herppich, Wittwer, Nückles & Renkl, 2014). The definition is further supported by Karl Sweiby who summarizes the concept of Knowledge as the capacity to act. However, in this paper, a hybrid definition is adopted where knowledge is defined as the sum of what is known and resides in the competent and intelligence of people. Two key aspects are evident in this definition. First, intelligence refers to the ability to acquire and apply facts and information. Therefore, for knowledge to be meaningful, one must be intelligent. Second, competence means that an individual has to have the necessities to apply the facts and information (Lesser & Prusak, 2004). The combination of the two gives the platform in which the value of knowledge is synthesized.
However, critics argue that there is no consensus on the element of intelligence. Therefore, the argument that the individual must be intelligent for the value of knowledge to be synthesized cannot hold because the reference to the concept of intelligence is not defined thus the definition is unsubstantiated. As such, this invalidates the platform through which the value of knowledge is synthesized. Responding to this criticism, according to Albert Einstein, the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. What then is imagination? Imagination refers to the ability of the human mind to explore ideas, concepts and images among other things that are currently not in existence in the present environment or are out of our senses. However, imagination is primarily driven by ideas while ideas are driven by thoughts which are inspired to bridge the gap between what is and what the one imagining desires to be (Nicholson, 2009). Therefore, imagination is driven by fragmented information which is based on given knowledge. As such, anyone that has the power to imagine can be argued to be intelligent and so long as such an individual has the necessary competency, then such an individual has the ability to synthesize the value of knowledge. Based on this understanding, the value of knowledge is based on personal knowledge.

Mathematics in Business
In recent years, business processes have undergone an extensive process adoption of the mathematical process to improve the quality of decision making. In so doing, this has involved the merger of two distinct forms of knowledge through reasoning and language as ways of knowledge through extensive research (The coming of knowledge-based business, 1995). The merger has resulted to a new form of knowledge called scientific management. After the merger, business productivity has since improved through optimized use of scares resources through the use of mathematical tools. As such, this raises two key critical aspects of value that relates to knowledge. First, it is the knowledge that led to increased productivity or is it the products that led to the growth? Refining the question, is it the process of producing the product which is valuable or is it the products that are produced? According to Amidon (1997), the knowledge to produce a given commodity is more valuable than the product produced. The argument is further substantiated Leonard. However, how is the knowledge valuable yet it is not commercially viable? The question is based on the understanding that one of the primary purposes of any business entity is making profits. Products lead the profits not knowledge. However, can there be a winning product that is not based on knowledge? According to Leonard, products are a manifestation of application of knowledge. In this case, the application refers to understanding facts and information combining with the skills and competence to develop a product that solves a given problem and generate a profit for the organization.
Borrowing a mathematical logic from the physical sciences to advance the argument in business context, scientifically, assume that it requires a force of ten Newton to drill a nail through the wood. If a hammer that exerts ten Newton is placed on the head of the hammer, the nail will never penetrate the wood. However, if the hammer strikes the nail at a force of 10 Newton, the nail will penetrate the wood. In this case, there are two forms of energy where one has the ability to do work, kinetic energy, while the other conserves energy, potential energy. Relating this understanding to the business context, guided by the argument advanced by Amidon (1997), the ability to drill the nail through the wood is the conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy. As such, the ability to produce products is the conversion of knowledge to tangible products. As such, the conversion adds value to the knowledge. However, this does not mean that the knowledge loses value if it is not converted. Knowledge has intrinsic value, which can be argued to mean the conserved value of knowledge that can never the lost, such that it is only waiting for the value extraction platform, as earlier discussed, for extrinsic value to be derived. In effect, it is clear that knowledge has an inherent value that exists as long as that knowledge is known thus knowledge does not need to be applied for it to be valuable. However, this position only holds if the value is not measurable (Abstract value). If the value is assumed to be measured based on the extent of the application of knowledge (relative value), it means that the value of knowledge will be based on the extent the products meets the expectation of an individual. As such, the research statement will hold.

Religion

According to Descartes ‘all knowledge is certain and evident cognition and when we review all the actions of the intellect by means of which we are able to arrive at a knowledge of things with no fear of being mistaken, we recognize only two: intuition and deduction’ (1628, Rule III, p. 3). In religious circles, a man is obligated to love his wife as Christ loved the church. The encouragement is a religious necessary truth. However, through Intuition and deduction, only the knowledge of necessary truth can be an advance but such knowledge is not substantive knowledge of the external world. In this case, it can only be deemed to be the knowledge of the relationship of human ideas. Human ideas are influenced by various aspects of life such as socialization, cultural and tradition among others (Wilbur, 1968). For example, is some African cultures, a man is expected to give his wife a token beating as a sign of love, however, in western cultures, wife beating is a crime and abuse of love while the bible does not condone wife beating. In this case, assume a religious man from a western culture marries a traditionalist girl from this African community that is adamant that she can never leave her traditions. Out of love, the man ends up occasionally beating up his wife. Through the myth lenses, he is doing the right thing. The intention of the biblical teaching is to promote harmonious marriages through love (Fitzgerald, Rensburg & Ruth, 2009). Therefore, the man action to beat up his wife occasionally is in accordance to the intention of the biblical teaching of showing love but differs on the methodology. The point in this is that the value of knowledge is in the intention (Conflicts and Comparisons of Value, n.d.). Romantic actions as it may be advocated in western cultures and beating as it is in this community are just but a mere manifestation of love (Rwoma, 2001). Hypothetically, if the man who marries this girl dies without ever beating her, will the girl accuse him of not loving her? Assuming that that marriage is driven by love, by virtual that the man married the girl out of love, love is present from the beginning. As such, by absolute terms, the value of the need to love the wife knowledge does not diminish if not applied. However, in relative value terms, where the value is attached to the manifestation of love, if love is not applied in the marriage through gestures or beating, the value of knowledge of love diminishes with the extent of dissatisfaction of the wife, which is usually the case. As such, the research statement will hold.

References

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