The linear knowledge is knowledge that remains constant development and a linear and gradual increase. It is a way of learning and acquiring data from reality that is little by little; the opposite type is exponential knowledge.
From prehistory to the Modern Age, the human being has been accumulating knowledge linearly. However, in the 21st century the accumulation and creation of knowledge has been exponential, and in one day more knowledge is created than in decades of past centuries.
Knowledge is the set of information that is stored in the mind of each person. This information is acquired through experience or learning, the perception or analysis of a set of data.
It is also the ability of a person to understand things through reason. The definition of knowledge is very complex since it arises from a spontaneous and instinctive fact. It can be described as the being's contact with the world.
It is characterized by the presence of a subject in front of an object. When the subject sees the object, he captures it and makes it his own through a cognitive operation.
Knowledge depends on the nature of the object and the means used to reproduce it. So it can be distinguished into two large groups of knowledge, sensory knowledge and rational knowledge.
Sensory knowledge is found in men and animals, and is captured through the senses. Rational knowledge is inherent to humans and is captured through reason
In the minds of the connoisseurs coexist a mixture of experiences, value and information that serve to originate new experiences and new information. This series of knowledge is also necessary to perform actions.
Knowledge originates in perception through the senses, reaches understanding and ends in reason. To access knowledge, we must exercise thought, we must recognize that the act of thinking is always related to content and that it does not occur in a vacuum.
Characteristics of linear knowledge
Linear knowledge is the type of knowledge that develops through the sequence and order of escalation of the logical nature of knowing. Its stages are knowing, processing and reasoning.
The first stage, knowing, is an essential activity in every individual. It relates to its environment and is capable of capturing or processing information about what surrounds it.
Knowing is tied to evidence of belief based on experience and memory. It is contrasted with knowledge, since in addition to the above, knowledge requires a justification that gives meaning to knowledge.
The second stage, processing, implies the recognition of the activity that we are observing and relating it to the knowledge that we already have acquired.
And finally, the reasoning stage. We understand by reasoning the ability we have to solve problems, draw conclusions and consciously learn the facts. Through reasoning we establish causal and logical connections.
And we can distinguish two types of reasoning, the argumentative and the logical or causal. Through argumentative reasoning, the argument is the linguistic expression of reasoning.
On the other hand, logical or causal reasoning is a logical process that reaffirms the validity of the judgment we are making.
Logical or linear thinking only explores the directions in which the solution is believed to be. It occurs sequentially, that is why the order must be followed and false steps cannot be established.
Linear knowledge is based on hypothetical logical explanation. The hypothetical logical explanation is one that has an antecedent and a consequent, without the possibility of anything else, since the method is closed.
Linear knowledge is meaningful information or learning acquired through a procedure. "If a happens, then b happens."
This means that knowledge is the product of reasoning. Normally for this type of thinking the left hemisphere of the brain is used.
Linear knowledge is the most common form of learning, since it accumulates knowledge over time. It is a form of information gathering, which makes the acquired information accumulate, but not be related.
The knowledge of things accumulates in the different stages of life. The information is processed in different periods, and finally it is reasoned about what is known, its operation or everyday situations.
Structuring knowledge
Linear knowledge is opposed to structuring knowledge, which is more complex. It is generated through constructions that transform the cognitive system, allowing new knowledge and ways of ordering data.
The ability to structure requires pedagogical strategies that make it possible to develop and build a concept.
When the student investigates his representations and those of the environment, he can establish an analysis from the common point of view, developing reflective and critical capacities.
Structured knowledge is more elaborate than linear knowledge because it allows interaction with the environment that surrounds us in a freer way.
It is also worth highlighting other types of knowledge that are in opposition to linear knowledge. Among them, we highlight sensitive, conceptual and holistic knowledge.
Sensible knowledge is one that captures the object through the senses. Thanks to this type of knowledge, we can store images of things in our minds.
Conceptual knowledge has to do with the essence of the object and not with its sensory characteristics.
For example, you can have an image of a table thanks to sensitive knowledge. But we can have a universal table concept that will encompass all tables in the world
Holistic knowledge is one that captures the whole. I intuited an object means to include it in a context without defined structures or limits.
This knowledge is structured and the intuitive level cannot be delimited, but is captured as a totality. The problem with this knowledge is being able to express it and communicate it to others.
References
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- HABERMAS, Jürgen. Knowledge and human interests.
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- GADAMER, Hans-Georg; ARGULLOL, Rafael. The beauty of the current. Barcelona: Paidós, 1998.
- HOROWITZ, Irving Louis. History and elements of the sociology of knowledge. 1974.
- MATURANA, Humberto R., et al. The tree of knowledge: the biological bases of human knowledge. Madrid: Debate, 1990.