Effect of Knowledge Sharing on Personal and Cultural Factors

Effect of Knowledge Sharing on Personal and Cultural Factors Theory of Knowledge With reference to two areas of knowledge discuss the way in which shared knowledge can shape personal knowledge. In this essay, we are faced with the question as to how shared knowledge can shape personal knowledge. Can the world be improved every time each individual contributes his own knowledge for the benefit of someone else? Is knowledge sharing the key to success? Initially, I will provide definitions of key-notions for better understanding of the difference between shared knowledge and personal knowledge, which is summarized by what â€Å"I know† and what â€Å"we know†. According to the Oxford Dictionaries, knowledge is defined as â€Å"facts, information, and skills acquired through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject†[1]. Personal knowledge is not certainly the same as community knowledge. What an individual knows or how an individual makes knowledge and what community knows are different matters. Personal knowledge is the knowledge acquired through observation or personal experiences by an individual[2]. Shared knowledge is the knowledge shared between people who exchange through information, skills, or expertise[3]. These definitions are neither the correct, nor only definitions of these terms. The classic general example would be with a patient that has a problem with his leg, where the surgeon would want to operate, the pharmacist would want to medicate, the physiotherapist would want to exercise the musco-skeletal system, the priest would pray and so on. Each of them would take its own approach based on his background and shared knowledge held by profession. However, knowledge sharing encompasses not only the sharing of â€Å"great things†, but equally the sharing of â€Å"little things† with the intention of improving the way things get done.[4] Natural Sciences and History provide plenty of examples which show unique study of the past and influence the present. To begin with, can we use a scientific method to develop personal knowledge from shared knowledge? Darwin’s famed evolutionary theories in On the Origin of Species, where the notion that all life is related and descended from a common ancestor: the birds and the bananas, the fishes and the flowers, all are related. The organism’s genetic code is altered as the genes mutate, of which the beneficial mutations remain because they ensure survival, a process called â€Å"natural selection†. Survival and adaption is determined by natural selection. Darwin’s theory became a theory in crisis in light of the tremendous advances made in molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics over the years. Thus shared knowledge led Darwin to concede that â€Å"if it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed, which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down†[5]. DNA testing reveals our genetic make-up and, along with genetics, is a means of helping scientists to establish reasoni ng behind how species have originated from a common ancestor. The Human Genome Project, through its sequencing of the DNA, can help us understand diseases including viruses and appropriate treatment, identification of different forms of cancer, the design of medication and their effects, advances in forensic and applied sciences, biofuels and other energy applications, agriculture, livestock breeding, bioprocessing; risk assessment, bioarcheology, anthropology, evolution. It becomes clear that knowledge is perishable, increasingly short lived and to get most things done you need to share with people to achieve your objectives[6]. On the other hand, for centuries people believed that life was created from elements and not from eggs, seeds or other ways of reproduction. The first to believe in this theory was Aristotle who based his thinking on the studies that Anaximander and Hippolytus had previously made and said that life came spontaneously like mud and earth when exposed to sunlight. The theory of the spontaneity of life continued to be believed for thousands of years after Aristotle until 1877, when Louis Pasteur proved that this theory was wrong. He showed that it was not possible for maggots to appear on meat in a sealed container[7]. Pasteur demonstrated that fermentation occurs through the growth of micro-organisms and the emergent growth of bacteria is due to biogenesis (all life from life). Thus the â€Å"personal knowledge† of difference is changing which then affects the whole group/the shared knowledge. Although truth is an objective requirement for knowledge, belief is a subjective requirement for it. Reason gives us greater certainty than perception or belief. What we often hear is said that science has proved something. â€Å"Every scientist knows that science advances only if knowledge is shared†, said Dr. Walt Warnick[8] . If scientific knowledge is not shared, then research may not be done accurately. It is better if scientists share their opinions and thoughts in order to progress and succeed in finding new aspects in several different fields. Every single scientist has to have the incentive to share, use and improve his judgment, disclose ideas or being open to everything is more correct. Scientific progress needs a background of careful observation and imagination plays an important role in the development of new scientific ideas. Thus, part of Copernicus’ genius was that while he saw what everyone else saw when he looked at the night sky, he came up with a di fferent way of looking at it, although this idea did not catch on when the Greek astronomer Aristarchus had suggested that the earth goes round the sun as early as the third century BC . Hence, the vast majority of our knowledge is neither personal nor individual but it is knowledge shared with the rest of the knowledge of the community. Despite the success of the natural sciences we need to keep in mind that they do not have a monopoly for knowledge. â€Å"History is but the register of human crimes and misfortunes† said Voltaire. History seeks to reconstruct past on the basis of evidence that can be found in the present. History is knowledge and â€Å"those who don’t study the past are condemned to repeat it† (George Santayana). The emerging concept of knowledge democracy addresses the relationships between knowledge production and distribution of knowledge. Although the Athenian democracy was based on open deliberation and voting and recognized this as a distinctive way of gaining knowledge about the world and acting upon that knowledge, it was depended also on the willingness of the citizen participants to accept the implicit assumptions they lived by, and the information on the basis of which they cast their votes. Athenian political culture was based on collective opinion rather than on cer tain knowledge and on the assumption that opinion could be translated on practical reality through democratic political process[9]. Thucydides developed what the world described as historical knowledge and he was supported by the majority of Athenians. Thus the personal knowledge of each Athenian became shared knowledge of all the Athenians and vice versa the shared knowledge of the majority of Athenians became personal knowledge of each one of them. History is not simply concerned with describing the past and explaining it. The study of history is something that can give us good judgment about human affairs. On the other hand, history, as a shared knowledge, is a defence against propaganda. One of the best known examples of the abuse of history is from the Stalinist era in the former Soviet Union and the propaganda within Nazi Germany. Communist propaganda in the Soviet Union was based on the Marxist-Leninist ideology to promote the Communist party. Propaganda was part of education, broadcast by any means possible from schools to cinema, with a goal to build a society on the basis of common ownership of the means of production, where the society would be completely under the control of the state. Propaganda is the art of persuasion and Joseph Goebbels was in charge in Nazi Germany of Hitler. His role was to control and censor information available to the German population that could subject the Nazi party to any hostile or damaging opinions. This meant that the pro-Nazi information broadcast to the public was ever more persuasive in nature. Hitler managed to convince 70 million rational people to engage in horrible atrocities and wage war against the world using his speeches and propaganda[10]. Thus history, which is shared knowledge, is concerned with the past and one obvious problem with trying to know the past is that it no longer exists. History is based on primary sources, but since they are selective interpretation of events they cannot always be taken at face value[11] since memory, emotion, sense perception, reason, faith, belief,language play an important role. In conclusion, what are the implications of this shared knowledge for one’s own individual knowledge? Personal experience, vision and inspiration can contribute to shared knowledge when that personal knowledge is communicated to and accepted by the community as it happened with Copernicus’ or Louis Pasteur’s theories. It could also be argued that the relationship between shared and personal knowledge is bi-directional and inseparable. But, shared knowledge of democracy shaped the personal knowledge of each Athenian. History of one’s own nation might give deeper understanding of one’s own past. Day- to- day work of scientists working within the â€Å"paradigm† has made scientists more aware and more receptive to the evolution of the scientific views, as Thomas Kuhn claimed. However, propaganda during Stalinist or Nazi era show that â€Å"paradigm† shifts are more likely in loose shared knowledge and may cause the total controversy of the world.[12] 1 [1] http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/knowledge [2] http://thelawdictionary.org/personal-knowledge/ [3] Frost, Alan.Knowledge Sharing. KMT. Retrieved 17 April 2013.(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_sharing) [4]  http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/ksculture [5] Political Dissent in Democratic Athens: Intellectual Critics p.35 [6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genome_Project [7] http://www.toptenz.net/top-10-most-famous-scientific-theories-that-turned-out-to-be-wrong.php [8] http://www.osti.gv/home/ostiblog/knowledge-investment-curve-0 [9] http://web.stanford.edu/group/dispersed_author/docs/ThucydidesCriticism.pdf [10] http://brainblogger.com/2008/11/04/hitlers-guide-to-propaganda-the-psychology-of-coercion/ [11] Theory of Knowledge. Richard van de Lagemaat,p.320 [12] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kuhn

Colonization

Although New England and the Chesapeake regions were settled largely by people of English origin, by 1700 the regions had evolved into two distinct societies. I have described both societies in an attempt to demonstrate their developments. Virginia Colony In 1607 a group of merchants established England s first permanent colony in North America at Jamestown, Virginia. They operated as a joint-stock company that allowed them to sell shares of stock in their company and use the pooled investment capital to outfit and supply overseas expeditions. This joint tock company operated under a charter from James I with a concern for bringing Christian religion to the native people. However, most of the settlers probably agreed with Captain John Smith that the real aim was profit rather than religion. Profits were elusive in the early years; expectations of gold and other minerals, trade with Indians for beaver and deer skins were not to be had by the colonists. Many Virginia colonists died of dysentery, malaria and malnutrition. The Virginia Company sent a diverse collection of people to Jamestown; there ere artists and glassmakers, as well as unskilled servants. Both types of people adapted poorly to the wilderness conditions. Relations between the colonists and the Indians were bitter from the beginning. John Smith dealt with the Indians by shows of force and the Indians withdrew trade with the English. Many settlers died of starvation in the first years. The discovery that tobacco would grow in the Chesapeake region was a salvation for Virginia. The planters shipped the first crop in 1617 and thereafter tobacco cultivation spread rapidly. By 1624, Virginia was xporting 200,000 pounds of tobacco; by 1638 the crop exceeded 3 million pounds. The cultivation of tobacco caused Virginia s planters to find a reliable supply of cheap labor. To fill this need, planters recruited immigrants from various countries. These immigrants were called indentured servants. They willingly sold a portion of their working lives in exchange for free passage across the Atlantic ocean. Many of the indentured servants were unemployed and held the lower class on the social ladder from their places of origin. Life for indentured servants was often a nightmare. If diseases did not kill them, many succumbed to the brutal work routine that harsh masters imposed upon them. When the remaining servants neared the end of their contract, masters would find ways to add time to the contracts. The profitable tobacco crops created an intense demand for land. As more and more colonists settled along the rivers that flowed in Chesapeake Bay, the local Indian tribes retaliated. The murder of an Indian captain triggered a fierce Indian assault that dealt a staggering blow to Virginia. This attack led to the bankruptcy of the Virginia Company. The surviving planters felt they had justified reasons for the destruction of the Indians. As more settlers arrived, more pressure was placed on the Indians for land. Wars over land was provoked in 1644 and again in 1675. In each of these conflicts, the colonizers were victorious. The native population of Virginia was reduced to less than 1,000 by 1680. Immigrants to the Chesapeake Bay region found existence difficult. Many immigrants arrived as indentured servants and could not marry until their time was paid. Once marriage was made, diseases claimed many within about seven years. Few children growing up could expect to have both parents alive. Widows and widowers often remarried soon after the death of their spouse, creating a complex web of family life. Because of mortality, the Chesapeake settlers remained, for most of the seventeenth-century, a land of immigrants rather than a land of settled families. Social institutions such as churches and schools took root very slowly. The Chesapeake region architecture showed the fragility of life in the tobacco growing environment. Settlers at first built primitive huts and shanties. After establishing crops, planters improved their habitats but still built ramshackle one-room dwellings. Even as Virginia and Maryland matured, cheaply built and cramped houses remained the norm. Life was too uncertain and the tobacco economy was too volatile. Massachusetts Bay Colony While some English settlers scrambled for wealth on the Chesapeake, others were seized by the spirit of religion. These individuals were known as Puritans. They aimed their efforts at reforming the corrupt new land. They wanted the new land to have a special mission in the world. The people attracted to the Puritan movement were not only religious reformers but also men and women who hoped to find changes in English society. They disapproved of the growing withdrawal from traditional restraints of individual action. They worried that individualistic behavior would undermine the notion of community involvement. This community involvement was the belief that people were bound together by reciprocal rights, obligations, and responsibilities. Puritans vowed to reverse the march of disorder, wickedness and disregard for community by imposing a new discipline. Their intention was to establish communities of pure Christians who collectively swore a covenant with God to work for his ends. Civil and religious transgressors were rooted out and severely punished. Their emphasis was on homogeneous communities where the good of the group outweighed individual interests. The first winter for the Puritans was harsh, more than 200 of the first 700 settlers died and 100 others returned to the England in the next spring. But Puritans kept coming. Motivated by their work ethic and sense of mission, the Puritans thrived almost from the beginning. The early leaders were university-trained ministers, experienced members of the lesser gentry and men with a compulsion to fulfill what they knew was God s prophecy for New England. Most of the ordinary settlers came as free men in with families. Trained artisans and farmers from the mid rank of English society, they established close communities where brutal exploitation of labor had no place. The Puritans built a sound economy based on agriculture, fishing, timbering and trading for beaver furs with local Indians. They also established the first printing press and planted they seed of a university, Harvard College. The Puritan leaders also created a tax-supported school system. In 1647, the government ordered every town with 50 families to establish an elementary school and every town with 100 families a secondary school as well. Although the Puritans had made many accomplishments, there were some dissenters from the Puritan way of life. In 1633, Salem s Puritan minister, Roger Williams, began to voice disturbing opinions on church and government policies. Williams denounced mandatory worship and argued that government officials should not interfere with religious matters. In 1634, Anne Hutchinson began to discuss religion, suggesting that the holy spirit was absent in the preaching of some ministers. Hutchinson also offended the male leaders of the colony because she boldly stepped outside the subordinate position expected of women. The village was the vital center of Puritan life. These villages were small and tightly held. Many farmers established agriculture fields set outside the village. Families lived close together in compact towns built around a common meeting place. These small, communal villages kept families in close touch. Land was istributed to individuals according to the size of his family, his wealth and his usefulness to the church and town. It was believed that every family should have enough land to sustain it, and prospering men were expected to use their wealth for the community s benefit, not for themselves. Women played a vital role in this family centered society. The presence of women and a stable family life strongly affected New England s architecture. Early economic gains were transformed into substantial housing. Well constructed one-room houses with sleeping lofts quickly replaced the huts. Parlors and lean-to kitchens were added as soon as possible. Education was stressed in Puritan communities. Placing religion at the center of their lives, Puritans emphasized the ability to read catechisms, psalmbooks and especially the Bible. The 20,000 English immigrants who had come to New England by 1649 were dispersed from Maine to Long Island. It was only natural that farmers wished for better farm land. To combat the problems of dispersion, Puritan leaders established a broad intercolony political structure in 1643 called the Confederation of New England. This first attempt at federalism managed to function fitfully for a generation. Although the Puritans built stable communities, developed the economy and constructed effective government, their leaders, as early as the 1640s, complained that the founding vision of Massachusetts Bay was faltering. Material concerns seemed to outweigh religious commitments and the individual prevailed over the community. However, New England had achieved economic success and political stability by the end of the seventeenth century. Towns functioned efficiently, poverty was uncommon, public education was mandated and family life was stable.

Christian Leader Audit Sample Essay

The Christian Leader Audit helps determine the overall strength of the leader as a Christian. Is the leader a strong Christian leader, above average Christian leader and so on? As Malphurs exclaims, as Christian leaders our â€Å"mandate is to lead Christianly regardless of the context.† This audits one’s commitment to Christ, godly character, reliance on God and ability to live by example. I scored a nine on the audit and according to my score I am a strong Christian leader. Practicing servant leadership was a given for me. It has always been a passion of mine to serve others in any way possible. I have always believed that you must lead by example. In student ministry this often means that I look for opportunities to serve students so that they can see in living color what being a servant looks like. Some examples would be sharing what I have with students. I find that any time I can share a meal with someone or share some money with someone in need that this a great opportunity for me to lead by example. Often, I find myself not just asking others to clean up but I join them in cleaning up. I try to make sure that I never have the attitude that I am â€Å"too good† to do something. As I further reflected on this audit I found that while most of the time I lead by the power of the Holy Spirit there are times when I launch out ahead of the Holy Spirit on my own. I often find myself praying that I would not get ahead of the Spirit but if I am honest I will admit that I get excited or at times frustrated and move out on my own. This was a good reminder for me that I must always be sensitive to God’s Spirit as I lead others making sure that I am staying in stride with God’s Spirit and not pulling ahead or falling behind. Aubrey Malphurs, Being Leaders:The Nature of Authentic Christian Leadership, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Baker Books:2003), 13.

World War I, One Of The Greatest Military Conflicts Of

World War I, one of the greatest military conflicts of all time, began in 1914 after Archduke Franz Ferdinand’s assassination. Trouble had been brewing in Europe, particularly in the Balkan region, before the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand served as the spark which finally ignited the powder keg. This would set into motion a military conflict which would drag on for many years and would leave over 16 million people dead at the end of the war. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand occurred on June 28, 1914 in Bosnia where he was shot by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. This would set off a series of events which by the end of July would signal the official start to World War I. This conflict would start out seeing Russia,†¦show more content†¦Both the Central Powers and the Allied Powers attempted to use propaganda to sway the United States’ public opinion on the conflict as well. Much of this propaganda is extremely famous and well-known, such as the propaganda featuring German atrocities and some Uncle Sam propaganda. These factors put increasing pressure on the United States to act and choose a side in the conflict. The United States remained steadfast in its opposition to entering the war, but its neutrality would be tested many times in the coming years. As the years progressed, the pressure was ratcheted up on the United States as both sides began to contest what the United States considered free International waters. Great Britain controlled the North Atlantic Ocean and began refusing to allow American goods to be shipped to the Central Powers, particularly goods shipped to Germany. They declared that this cargo in international waters was to be considered contraband, and they would seize these goods as they were being transported. Woodrow Wilson protested these acts, declaring they were illegal, yet did not seek to retaliate against Great Britain. 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