by April-Lynn Logan

Created on: June 16, 2009

"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you'll know tomorrow." Agent Kay, Men in Black (1997)

Rationalization of knowledge... It is a little bit of an oxymoron. Currently our species is stuck on the believe that if the masses know that any given thing is true that gives us the ration for said thing to become absolute knowledge. The definition of knowledge is something that is known based on experience or known facts. Our overall knowledge is expanded exponentially as individuals research and investigate topics and then report, but our individual knowledge is slow to change.

It is said that a person is knowledgeable if they can recite historical facts. This, in its self is true, if you are only looking for things that have happened in the past, but then again historical data can be misconstrued. It is written and recited based on individual experience and can be diluted or exaggerated depending on the values and personal knowledge said person has obtained. So given this information is there actually a way to rationalize knowledge?

It is a complex statement and must be looked at the view of the individual. An individual or even a common group can rationalize their knowledge based on their belief system. The belief system comes from personal experience. Experience can include mental instabilities, parental interference and actual witnessed events. No individual can rationalize the knowledge of another unless they maintain the same belief system as the original person.

It is the same concept as the concept that perception is reality. Although the mass may not believe something is true an individual can. For that one being they can perceive the world a certain way, for them that is there reality. The reality of their situation can not be changed until they acquire new knowledge. No one can help change their perception without first rationalizing what they currently know is true, and arguing or changing their view from the original perspective.

Some people strongly believe that humans are the only race in the galaxy. They know that we are based on facts that they believe to be true. It is their perception that they are knowledgeable about the subject because they have read facts on the subject. Then there are the individuals that know there is potential that life exists outside of our solar system. They know this based on evidence that they have read and have hypothesized upon.

What today is fact can become an old wives tale tomorrow. An individual can rationalize pieces on knowledge but a population cannot rationalize all knowledge. The difference between fact and fiction is the ability to rationalize.

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