WHAT IS EVERYDAY KNOWLEDGE? (WITH EXAMPLES) - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The everyday knowledge is a term used to refer to facts known to most people, which have been proven true and can not be refuted. For example, it is a daily knowledge that boiling oil burns, that in winter it is cold or how to open a tap.

The information that is part of everyday knowledge is so common that it should not be cited when it is used in work and other research, since all individuals in a society (or most of them) handle such knowledge.

For example: 1-The sun rises in the east. 2-Barack Obama was the president of the United States. 3-England is in Europe. 4-Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina. 5- How to turn on the TV. 6- How to go to some part of the city.

In addition, everyday knowledge is characterized by not belonging to any specific area but is part of general fields of knowledge (this is why it is called general culture.

There are several ways to identify whether certain information is everyday knowledge or not, for example: the information is present in more than five sources without being cited, it constitutes a proverb or a saying, it is a verifiable fact, it is accepted as "valid" because it is known to all and does not need additional support.

Everyday knowledge and other types of knowledge

There are four types of knowledge: mythical, philosophical, everyday, and scientific. Mythical knowledge can be magical or religious, the philosophical can be rational or critical.

For its part, scientific knowledge differs from everyday knowledge in that the former is critical and reflective while the latter is spontaneous and unreflective; the first is determined through studies while the second is socially demonstrated.

Added to this, scientific knowledge is specialized, which makes it restricted to only one group.

Unlike scientific knowledge, everyday knowledge is a general domain, it is common to all individuals regardless of the area of ​​specialty.

How to recognize if certain information is everyday knowledge or not?

Sometimes people may face difficulties in determining whether or not information is part of everyday knowledge. However, there are certain methods to determine it. Some of them are:

1-The information can be found in five or more sources without citing

If an investigation is being carried out on the discovery of America and five or more texts establish that this continent was discovered by Christopher Columbus, then we can say that this fact is part of everyday knowledge and it is not necessary to cite it.

2-The information can be found in any general source

Take the following as an example: Jimmy Carter was the 39th President of the United States.

Many people may know that Jimmy Carter was, in fact, one of the Presidents of the United States. However, the number of people who know that Carter was the 39th president of the United States is very small.

Despite this, the statement is an example of everyday knowledge because information about Carter's presidency number can be found in any reference book.

3-Information is a proverb or saying

If the information used is a proverb or a saying, then it is a fact of everyday knowledge. For example: Not by much getting up early it wakes up earlier.

4-It is known that the recipient knows the information that is being offered

If you are writing an article about music for musicians, it is not necessary to explain what a composition is, what a scale is or any other musical term, since the audience is known to handle the vocabulary.

5-If it is a historical date, a place or a fact, then it is a fact of common knowledge.

Examples of everyday knowledge

- The capital of Germany is Berlin. The flag of this country is made up of three horizontal black, red and yellow stripes (in descending order). Knowing the name of capital cities and the colors of the country flags is part of everyday knowledge.

- Practice without theory is blind and theory without practice is sterile. This phrase was said by the philosopher Immanuel Kant in 1793. However, it is used so much that it has become a proverb so it is not necessary to quote it (although adding a reference is not penalized) and it is part of everyday knowledge.

- The Earth revolves around the Sun and the Moon revolves around the Earth. The simple fact of observing the sky certifies that these two statements are correct; In addition to this, several scientific studies have been carried out that confirm these facts. It should be noted that it was not always part of common knowledge to say that the Earth orbits the Sun. At one time, the geocentric theory prevailed, according to which the Sun and the other planets revolved around the Earth. Later, this theory was found to be wrong and was replaced by the heliocentric (the Sun is the center).

- If you mix the yellow and red pigments, you get an orange pigment. If you mix blue and red, you get purple. You don't have to be an artist to know what colors you will get if you mix the three primary colors together. Therefore, such information is part of common knowledge.

- Water boils at 100 ° C and freezes at 0 ° C.

- The water cycle consists of three parts: precipitation, evaporation and condensation. These three elements are repeated over and over again naturally.

- The earth is round. It should be noted that, as with the heliocentric theory, the fact that the Earth is round was not always part of everyday knowledge, since at one time it was mistakenly believed that our planet was flat.

- It is dangerous to mix ammonia with chlorine. Perhaps not all people are aware that the mixture between these two substances triggers a reaction that generates toxic gases (such as chloramines), but everyone does know that it is not advisable to mix chlorine with ammonia.

References

1. What is Common Knowledge? Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from integrity.mit.edu
2. Common Knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from en.wikipedia.org
3. Common Knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from merriam-webster.com
4. What is common knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from businessdictionary.com
5. Common knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from dictionary.com
6. Every knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from nbci.nlm.nih.gov
7. General knowledge. Retrieved on July 3, 2017, from dictionary.cambridge.org.