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Re: What, Me Think? (was RE: clarification needed)
Subject:Re: What, Me Think? (was RE: clarification needed) From:Jo Francis Byrd <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 06 Dec 2000 15:08:47 -0600
I agree! My liberal arts education made me a generalist. I know a smattering about
a lot of things, and I can take the knowledge about one thing and extrapolate it
to apply to another. For example, I know how a particular software package works.
I know this one I've never used before does very much the same thing. I can take
my knowledge of the package I know, apply it to the one I've never used before and
fumble my way though, make mistakes, mutter, back up and start over, and voila! I
now know this one, too, at least well enough to do the job.
Most of us carry a vast storehouse of knowledge abound in our heads. Extracting it
and putting it to use, making the connection between "this" and "that' is what
makes us knowledgeable. Knowing a little about something gives us a clue as to
where and how to look for further information.
Jo Byrd
Bruce Byfield wrote:
>
> Reading your post, I suddenly conceived an argument for knowledge: what is
> valuable is not the information itself, but the links that your mind makes
> between the pieces of information. The more information you've absorbed, the
> more connections you can make. The more connections you can make, the more like
> you are to have an insight, or an original or creative idea. So long as the
> information is external, this process can't happen. Therefore, simply knowing
> where to find the information is less valuable than actually remembering it.
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